


A Riddle in Flowers

by WildisGood



Category: Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: Adventure & Romance, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Language of Flowers, No major character deaths, Slow Burn, There will be killing, Whimsical Classic Fairytale Feel, and it will not be clean...
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-25
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-03-09 05:15:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 47,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13474443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WildisGood/pseuds/WildisGood
Summary: Sarah may have grown up, but she never grew out of magic. It, and the goblins, have become infused in every part of her day-to-day life. Now, off at college and all on her own, she decides maybe it's time to let old rivalries die. She's always been good at making friends with eldritch creatures, and really, who wants to be enemies with the Goblin King…





	1. Preface

_Author's notes: Hello, and thank you for taking interest my story! I_ **_know_ ** _the flower thing been done before, but it's an idea that that just won't leave me alone, so you'll just have to bear with me through it. Enough from me, please enjoy our two favorite drama queens! Wild-is-good_

_Credit to whom credit is due,_

_I own nothing but products of the dark workings of my own mind._

* * *

 

**_Prologue_ **

Sarah paced the floor, rocketing from one end of the dorm room to the other. All around, on every available surface, shadowed grotesque and macabre faces watched in wickedly delighted amusement, snickering at 'The Lady's' blatant distress.

Back and forth the girl-who-ate-the-peach-but-remembered-everything paced, muttering heatedly. To the outside observer, she must have looked downright insane. If she was honest with herself, she probably was. Who invited this kind of trouble?

She came to an abrupt stop in the center of the room, causing all the hushed chatter and snickers to stop as suddenly as her captive audience waited with baited breath. Her eyes fixed on her bed, which sat innocently against the wall, and to the bunch of flowers that rested on it, so much less so.

The bouquet seemed to mock her indecision, lying there as if it didn't represent a pinnacle moment in her life, as if it didn't possess the ability to tear her very world apart. She scowled at the blooms, gaining more snickers from the shadows. They thought it funny to see the mighty champion brought low with indecision over flowers. With a huff, she whirled around straight-backed and spoke to the room.

"Take it to him."

The cackling increased.

**_'And pray to God I don't regret this.'_ **

* * *

 

 _Just a heads up, in case you couldn't already tell, this will be a slightly "darker/creepier" take on the Underground and its denizens, just meaning that the goblins aren't all rainbows and sunshine._ **_"Through Dangers Untold"_ ** _and all that. (Think classic Northeastern European mythology- dark, whimsical and_ **_fun_ ** _-) The story itself will NOT be dark, depressing or end badly (Because I'm a sucker for happy endings)! I have no idea how long (or short) this story is going to be, but I hope you like it anyway! I am an aspiring novelist, so any feedback on quality(or anything else) is_ **_HUGELY APPRECIATED!_ ** _I am also a sensitive big girl, so I can take constructive criticism, but please keep the flaming to a minimum (I'm an ugly crier). I CAN be guilt-tripped into updating faster/more, so if you want it, feel free to ask (please keep in mind that I am a dyslexic, working college student and I type relatively slow). Peaches and Glitter to all!_

_-Wild-is-good_


	2. Chapter 2

_ Auther's notes: Alright, here is the  _ **_second_ ** _ installment of this ill-begotten fantasy (In as many days, too!). Enjoy! _

_ (Shout out to the 4 people I've already seen follow this, and that one optimistic angel that favorited. You people have so much hope!)  _

_ -Wild-is-good _

_ Credit to whom credit is due _

_ I own nothing but an obsession with puzzles and peaches. _

* * *

 

**_Chapter 1_ **

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Mused a velvety baritone from behind the little goblin, startling it guiltily from its reveries as to whether the bouquet in its talons would taste as good as it looked.

King Jareth of the Goblins Greater and Lesser, Sovereign of Dreams and Wishes, Ruler of the Labyrinth and all that dwell within, Overlord of Chaos, Master of Magics, Riddles and Games and Wielder of Time stepped around the creature to the door, looking at it with obvious amusement.

"I do not think whoever gave you that bouquet would be much pleased if reached its recipient in less than pristine condition." he observed drawly, opening the door to his study and stepping within.

"Best be getting it to them post haste." As His Majesty strolled further within, the goblin followed on his heel to perch on the back of one of the ornate chairs that sat before the great ebony desk at the back of the spacious room. When he saw this he leaned his hip against the desk and raised a brow at the creature.

The lesser goblin gave him a cheeky, knowing grin before holding out the unmauled bouquet for him. Jareth's other eyebrow rose to join the first as his hand rose to rest sarcastically at his breast.

"What, for moi?" he gasped in faux surprise. The goblin suppressed a cackle, continuing to present its King with the flowers. Jareth reached out an elegant hand to accept the array, circling around the giant desk to sit at its helm in a proud, high backed chair.

As he sat he examined the odd bouquet closer. It's seemingly random splattering of different flowers and sprigs, meticulously placed and bound together. It was comprised, he noticed, completely of exotic Aboveground flora and the distinct absence of residue magics made it clear it was done by hand. Whoever had made this had clearly spent much time and care doing so, which was wholly at odds with the way things worked here.

He lifted his eyes to the little goblin before him, who had been unusual still, and even more so, quiet. It was just perching there, a male whose name he believed was Nrogg now that he thought about it, and was staring at him with that same smug, knowing look on his hideous face. He was truly ugly, Jareth mused, with wrinkly skin the texture of a wart, beady red eyes, a wide pointy nose that took up most of his face, and an equally wide, slimy mouth that was overflowing with sharp needle like teeth and nearly split his head open. It was a fact that garnered him no small amount of regard among other lesser goblins.

"Now who in the Underground could have given you _this_?" he drolled.

Nrogg's face split wide and he cackled louder. Jareth's eyebrow rose again. At His Majesty's look, the smaller goblin calmed his jubilance and smiled wickedly over at his king.

"Not from Underground."

Jareth started. His brows shot up as he gazed at the little cretin who's grin got impossibly wider. **_Not_** _from the Underground…_ His eyes narrowed on the creature.

"Who is this from." He commanded in a steely tone. Nrogg's face seemed to split in two.

"The Lady."

The information hit Jareth like a ton of bricks. The **Lady**? **_That_** Lady?

' _Well, who else do we know by that moniker that lives_ ** _Aboveground,_** _hmm?'_

 _"_ You mean the Champion?" Jareth clarified in a calm, measured timber, which utterly belied the hungry, predatory stare he had pinned on the goblin before him. Nrogg nodded solemnly. Jareth released a silent breath and leaned back in his chair, gazing down at the flowers in his hand. They were from **_her._** Images of ebony hair and fiery green eyes danced before his mind's eye.

It seemed like yesterday and an eternity ago he had last seen her. With her ending declaration, she had stripped him of all ability to see her. He could not even watch her in his were-form, could not be in any part of the world where she resided, could not so much a _scry_ her. He had made the rules and wrote the script, but he had not expected her to follow it so closely.

When he had given the little red book to the little human child who's imagination and creative belief had struck his fancy, he had cast himself as the dashing villain on a humorous whim. After all, he was the Goblin King, and who wasn't at least a little afraid of him?

Her devoted love of it and his world had delighted him so much he had taken to watching her more often. He'd loved her little stories, the adventure she'd create and act out. Some times she'd play the warrior princess taming the dragon, sometimes the benevolent fairy who went from tale to tale fixing the peoples problem, and sometimes she played the villain, cackling maniacally at her imagined victims suffering. Her stories were always more complicated than one would expect from a child her age, with enough twists and turns to delight even **_his_** goblin mind.

After he gave her the book, he saw goblins become featured more and more often in her stories, which alway brought a vicious sort of pride to his heart. So he watched her. He saw her love of drama and stories grow and the way she doted on her absentee actress mother for representing both. He watched her heart break as her hero left her for bigger and better things, living her with her overwhelmed, fantasy deprived attorney of a father. He watched her cling to the hope that her mother would come back for her, and watch it get crushed when her father married a more like-minded women. He watched as she withdrew from shock and snarled as her hopeless father just let her drift away.

When the baby was born a few years later and the new mother tried to cope, he watched both parents divert their attention to the colicky babe who was so much easier to deal with than an independent, free-spirited, broken near-teen. And through it all, he amazed at the fact that she didn't let her dreams go.

Were most mortals fantasies would have dimmed and died under the constant pressure, her's flared stubborn and wild, refusing to be put out by the troubles in her world. While her mind said that it knew fairytale's and magic wasn't real, deep in the corners of her heart she believed.

It was plain as day she didn't belong here, wasn't made for the world of 'reality' and 'non-fiction'. As the years passed and he watched his favored little mortal struggle against a world where even the ones who loved her strove to crush her imagination, he decided he would give her her dreams. He would bring her to his world and let her have her fill of magic and fantasy. One such as her deserved that and so much more. She would be his ward and could have all the adventures she desired. She could have _anything_ she desired.

He had taken inspiration from the very book he had given her. If the family could not take care to nurture _both_ their children, they didn't deserve either. He set up the rules for winning this game loosely based off of how it was done it the book, with really no intention of her success. Then he waited.

It had taken the child going from screaming infant to screaming toddler to break her, even as her heart became slowly more bitter to the plain functional world around her. He had been gleeful to finally take her away. Unfortunately, he had made one **_fatal_** mistake.

He had underestimated her.

The young women who had stepped into the corridors of his Labyrinth baffled and defied him at every turn, making her way through every trap and pitfall set before her her. She even made _friends_ in the process!

Even as he railed against her and her progress, his mind when from thoughts of a ward to a Queen. She was well on her way to being stunningly beautiful women, and what are a few years of waiting to an immortal? As he watched, he became more and more determined to have her. He had thought the peach a stroke of genius, stealing her time as he stole her heart, for anyone who knows fairy tales know to be wary of Goblin Fruit.

But she remembered! She not only escaped the pull of his crystal ballroom, she cast off his spell and the effects of the fruit in a matter of **minutes**! Really, it might have been insulting if he were not so impressed. The more she won, the more he wanted her, needed her, recognized her for who she was to him.

And then she got away. She not only won, but she won the 'ultimate' prize. Making it to her brother won her the title of Champion. Any refusal at the end would have worked to send her home with him and her victory.

But no, she had followed his own damned script and had stripped him of all power over her, her life and her loved ones. That sole fact kept his traitorous subjects from harm in those first days of his rage. He could not so much as send a goblin out to watch over her!

After she returned to her dull gray world, he had expected that to be the last any of them saw of her, but she again had surprised him. She had welcomed not only her friends, but the _goblins_ to stay in her life. It was a fact that had warmed his heart to her all over again after his ire cooled.

Since then, the goblins were his only window into her life. They willingly participated in her life, with his blessing, acting as companions, protectors and his own personal informants.

Four anniversaries of his defeat had come and gonna, four years without a single slip. No wishes, no dreams that called out to him, not even a breath of his name passed her lips. Absolutely nothing that could provide him with a chance to worm his way back into her life. But now, this…

He gazed down wonder. Then knotted his brow. It really was an odd assortment of flowers. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to them despite the obvious care that was taken to place them, and they weren't the typical kinds of flowers one would send. Most were small petite thing, with some growing in bunches, and the rare larger flowers seeming to be almost hidden away…

Jareth narrowed his eyes. Things, it seemed, were not what they appeared to be with this bouquet. He peered closer and started to mentally identify the foreign blooms.

In the center standing tall over the rest were several bunches of Lavender. Making up the main mass tapering away underneath them were blue and purple flowers he identified as Blue Scilla and Campanula respectively, with small tightly closed white rosebuds sprinkled throughout. Sprigs of Filbert fanned out in a skirt like fashion around their base.

Poking out through the stems of the lavenders just under their heads hung Imperial lilies. Beneath them were small bunches of tiny light-dark pink flowers that he guessed to be Marjoram. Woven into the stems, just beneath the Filbert, as if meant to be hidden, were four or five bright purple, semi-large, _fuzzy_ flowers. It took him a moment to identify them. Pasque flowers.

The corner of his lip twitched up as it's meaning started to take shape.

Campanula stood for " _Thankfulness"_ or " _Gratitude"_ in the language of flowers. A fad a few centuries ago that had swept the Underground had had members of his court using both worlds of flora in their messages. As he gazed upon the bundle, he puzzled out his Champion's riddle.

Blue Scilla stood for " _Forgive and Forget"._ Filbert stood for " _Reconciliation"._ White rosebuds stood for " _Girlhood",_ sometimes being skewed as _"Too young to love"_ or just " _Too young"._

The Pasque made him want to either snort or roll his eyes. They meant: " _You have no claims on me."_ At least she had the courtesy to try and make it subtle.

Lavender was different. It had two meanings. One was benevolent, but the other was of a slightly darker tone. It meant " _Look under"_ or " _Beware"_ , and it came from an old belief Aboveground that poison asp always grew under it. It nearly rang with an old Labyrinthian truth; " ** _Things are not always what they seem"._**

'Hidden' underneath these were the Imperial Lilies, which stood for " _Majesty"_ or " _Royalty",_ and Marjoram which meant " _Delusion"_ or " _Illusion"._

It was a peace offering, apology, and an olive branch all wrapped up in one, with a safety built in.

It was a riddle sent in flowers. Jareth smirked as he conjured a black crystal vase full of enchanted water and set it in the place of honor on his desk.

' _How very clever of her.'_

* * *

 

_ Whew, the first real chapter is done! How d'ya like me  _ _ now _ _? No seriously, how do you like my Jareth is the real question. I can tell you with no uncertainty that he had fun solving Sarah's little flower riddle. In case it wasn't clear enough in the story, the flowers translate:  _

_ Peace? Let's put the bad blood behind us. Thank you for what you did. I was too young to understand everything. You were not what I thought you were (while still connotating that he is dangerous). I am a cautious adult who's not going to leave herself completely exposed to the possible wrath of an immortal king (you still have no power over me). _

_ So if you could, could you tell me if you understood the message, or do I need to clear it up in story? As always any feedback is priced higher than goblin gold! (Not to be mistaken with dwarf gold. That shite's expensive.) Sparkles and riddles to you all! _

_ -Wild-is-good _


	3. Chapter 3

_-Wild-is-good_

_Credit to whom credit is due_

_I own nothing but my fixation on owls and stars_

* * *

 

Sarah was official freaking out.

Not that anyone on the campus would be able to tell, what with her humanly impenetrable mask firmly in place. To anyone of them, she would look like your average impoverished no-major-assignments-due student, hurrying from one place to the next with her headphones in and her head high.

But on the inside.

**_She._ **

**_Was._ **

**_Freaking._ **

**_OUT._ **

_'What the HELL was I thinking?!'_

_'Sure Sarah, send the bloody Goblin King a bouquet of flowers. Cuz that'll end ~well~.'_

_'Why don't you just wish yourself away and be done with it already! Save everyone the trouble! Lord know_ _what_ _you just left yourself open too!'_

_'What were you thinking?!'_

_'You just assume because he likes riddles he'll understand what you're trying to say? Or that he'll even care?'_

_'Best case scenario; the goblins eat it before it can make it to him. Or he takes one look at it and throws it into the nearest fire. Worst case scenario; … '_

_'You didn't even tell Hoggle what you were planning. You KNEW it was a bad idea!'_

And the resounding:

_'GAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaAAAAaaAAaaaaaAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHhhhhhHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHH!'_

Sarah tried to divert her circling train of thoughts by paying attention to her teachers, forcing herself to focus on taking down as many notes as possible, but her panic sat there bubbling in the back of her mind, ready to spill forward at the slightest slip and drag her under.

As such, she alternately had awesome notes and absolutely nothing. She was pretty sure the goblins were picking up on it, too. Pethl, a cat sized goblin who more closely resembled a great fluffy rat and who liked to cuddle on her lap whenever she sat down, and Tipps, a pocket size goblin that liked to ride around on her shoulder or in her bag, kept snickering to each other whenever she would zone out.

Again, she was honestly amazed others didn't notice. How could they not hear? How could the not recognize something as amiss when their pencils suddenly rolled off the desk and half way across the room, or their (foolishly) open water bottles spilled all across there appears for no apparent reason. She marveled at how blind everyone could be.

She reached down with her free hand to pet Pethl's surprisingly soft fur and practically ignored Birff, who was messing with a student at a table across the room. From what she could tell, he was untying their shoelaces and attaching them to the table. She kept her expression schooled as she tried to keep her notes functional. She had a lot of practice ignoring or interacting with her constant companions without anyone's notice. It had become almost a game for all of them, living and moving around other humans without anyone the wiser.

Pethl purred on her lap, happy for the back rubs from 'The Lady'. They all called her that, no matter what she did. It was only _slightly_ better than _'The-girl-that-at-the-peach-and-forgot-everything-but-then-remembered-again'_ or some such monstrous variation. She mentally winced in remembrance of some of the more descriptive once.

Didymous seemed to think it fitting, and Ludo just smiled and crooned _'Sarah Fwiend_ '. Hoggle thought it was frickin' **hilarious**.

Hoggle.

He was the one who introduced her to the language of flowers.

It happened the night she had come home from her first "date". Samuel Millers had asked her to a school dance and Karen had been so excited. Sarah had mostly said yes because she knew it would make her step mother happy, (and hopefully get her off her back), and she had confessed as much to the gang before hand.

Sam, or _the-boy-who-smells-like-ferret-droppings_ as the goblins called him, had come to the door holding a small bundle of white and orange flowers. Karen had gushed and cooed, and when Sarah got back from her less than eventful date, she found that her stepmother had cut and put the flowers into one of her beautiful porcelain vases.

Hoggle had taken one look at them and her face and told her to "Dump him." When she asked why he had pointed to the flowers and said;

"Either he's wooly between the ears, or he ain't mean ya no good. The 'lil lady who beat the Labyrinth can do better than that."

"Why do you say that?" she had questioned in confusion. What did the flowers have to do with anything? They were probably the highlight of the date.

"Cuz that's Candytuft, Orange Lilies and and Anemone." he had said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world and she were being oblivious.

She had stared him blankly. He'd rolled his eyes good naturedly at her and said: "Don't cha know the Language, Sarah?"

She had given him another blank, slightly confused look.

"The Language?"

"The Language of Flowers! Damn, what does they bother teachen' ya at that school of yours? Candytuft means Indifference, Orange Lily means Hatred or Disdain, and Anemone means Refusal, amongs other things."

And thus had begun her education in the language of flowers at the hands of her favorite grouchy gardener. She had been fascinated by it, and she and Hoggle had taken to communicating through it when one or the other was too busy to talk face to face. It turned out he knew almost as much about Aboveground flora as he did about the Underground variate, due to a fad that had swept the underground a few centuries back.

Because of him, she had asked Karen to buy her a book on flowers. Karen, who was a fairly avid gardener herself, had been more than pleased, surprising Sarah by getting her a beautiful, incredibly detailed book with pictures of every plant, their uses, meanings, and origins all listed out on the sides.

Sarah treasured it, and the new found sense of bonding with her step-mother.

When Hoggle found out what she'd done, he was going to personally strangle her.

As the class started to wrap up, Tipps jumped up to rest on her shoulder. Smoothly standing without knocking him off or tipping anyone off that there has a 7 in tall goblin riding on her shoulder, she collected her papers and pencils. Dismally, she noted that her notes were abysmal.

_'So much for paying attention.'_

She sighed internally and put them away, mentally noting that she would need to read this next chapter extra carefully. As she walked to the door she watched from the corner of her eye as Birff's victim stood up and promptly fell over with a strangled cry. Birff quickly plucked free the knot and scampered away, leaving the poor bloke confused as to what had tripped him. Tipps chortled wickedly and Sarah had to hide a smile. She should probably be concerned that her sense of humor aligned so closely to that of goblins, but she couldn't muster the proper energy or guilt to care.

Sarah walked out of the building and down one of the forested side paths the direction her dormitory. At the distinct absence of the humans, the goblins came out and started to dance around her feet. She smiled at them and let their antic distract her for her much bigger, scarier goblin problems. Unfortunately, she quickly heard footsteps. Heeled footsteps.

_'Greeeeeeeat'_

"Oh Saaarah!" called out a sticky sweet voice.

 _'Strangulation is not a viable option, Williams, no matter if they_ **_never find the body_ ** _.'_

The goblins hissed in displeasure and dispersed into the brush on all sides. Tipps hid in her hair. You never knew when some a random person would have the Sight.

She turned around and face the owner of that voice.

Mallie. Graphic Design major with a Business minor. 5' 1, 100 lbs of pure, concentrated drama-queen, replete with temper tantrums and a height complex. Sarah had never seen her in heels that weren't at least 5" tall.

Sarah still looked down to meet her gaze. Sometimes it rocked to be 5'9".

"Saaarah, funny seeing you here! I was just looking for you!" Mallie, or 'Mal' gushed, drawing up in front of Sarah and sticking her chest out and her chin up a little more in an attempt at feminine dominance.

"Well, you found me." Sarah replied in a polite but aloof tone, not bothering to rise to the nonverbal challenge. She stood at ease, waiting for whatever drama was to unfold, unfold.

"Did you need something?" She said calmly "I was just on my way-"

"To your dorm-room, I can see that! Did you get out of classes already? Lucky girl!" Millie cut her off in a faux bubbly tone, clearly trying to get a rise out of her.

Sarah kept her placid, unreadable look in place and regarded her silently.

 _'Come on, you could try better than_ **_that_ ** _, Mal.'_

Mallie looked a bit uncomfortable (and irritated) at her non-reactiveness, but she rallied, plastering a bigger smile on her face.

"Congratulations on you audition by the way! I heard it went really well. SOOoooo, you're going out for one of the leads, right? Funnily enough, _me_ too! I really think I could rock Val! I could dye my hair blonde and everything!"

Sarah didn't even bother with a response and just gave her an unimpressed look. Mal wasn't even in the Drama program, and it was well known among The Art's Departments that the leads for the musicals and plays were unofficially reserved for the Drama majors.

Behind her ear she heard Tipps whisper _"Anything's better than tha' green!"_ and the answering chortles from the foliage. She contained her smirk. Mallie had bright watermelon green streaks in her shoulder length jet black hair. Some people could rock that look. Mal was just not one of them.

Sarah waited for the shorter girl to get the point of all this. Mal didn't make her wait long. She glanced around them as if she might've heard something, but wasn't quite sure, before decide as most did that it was nothing and turning back to Sarah.

"Robert's auditioning in too, did you know that? He's a shoe-in for the part. He tried out for Silvano. He's soooooo good, I watched him practicing for hours."

"It doesn't hurt that he's one of the **only four male Drama majors** we have and that he's the only one built for the part…" Sarah deadpanned, fighting to keep the sardonic smile of her face.

Robert and James were the only two tall, handsomely built males majors in the program, and both were trying out for separate parts. Robert with his lean runner's frame, dark whooshy hair, and dark brown eyes made him the only real choice for Silvano's character, where as James' dirty blond hair, blue eyes and more muscular build made him better suited for Lupus.

Robert was also Mal's boyfriend of 3 months, and she was extremely protective. Robert thought it was cute. Everyone else thought it was annoying.

Mal narrowed her eyes like a gunslinger, and Sarah had to suddenly fight off images of the wild west, with tiny little Mel dressed to the nines in a cowboy suit and her six-inch heels, legs bowed and hand hovering over her side as she told Sarah to 'Put 'um up!'

Through strength of will alone did Sarah keep her face straight, holding on to that cool veneer of calm that had earned her the moniker 'Ice Queen' with everything she had. Apparently, speaking of Mal's boyfriend's body in any way was a no-no. Mal almost snarled at Sarah.

"Watch it, Williams! That's _my_ boyfriend you're talking about. Only **I** get to think about him that way! Don't you dare even look at him, you little whore! He's MINE!"

The goblins jostled angrily, wanting to rip apart this mortal who dared insult their Champion.

Sarah **smiled**.

It wasn't a nice smile, wasn't something born of happiness or joy. It was a baring of teeth, a wolf's grin. It was silent, primal reminder of dominance and a promise of harm.

The goblins rustled in the bushes and tree's, quiet sinister laughter filtering around them Sarah drew on every ounce of her Ice Queen persona and stood regal and proud, her green eyes sharp with cold and cruelty and her lips twisted into a matching smile. She was officially done playing with this conversation.

"Calm down, darling. You're _never_ going to be able to stop people from looking at him. You'll have to just accept the fact that everyone else thinks he's eye candy just as much as you do, Mallie."

Mal opened her mouth to interrupt but Sarah wasn't finished. The goblins were moving through the trees around them, adding a sinister feel to whole space. She pinned the smaller girl down with a silencing stare and continued.

"SO, why don't you tuck those _nasty_ little insecurities away with those claws, and just enjoy the fact he's yours before it's too late. You can rest easy in the fact that I have **NO** intentions of taking him away from you. You can go focus your attention on more important things, like oh, I don't know, **_School_ ** ? Do not try to corner me again Mal, or I will take it to the heads of both departments for harassment and stalking. And I'd **_hate_ ** to see what Robert would think of that."

Finished, Sarah turned and left the stunned girl shivering with inexplicable fear, enraged but helpless to do anything about it. Sarah had not even raised her voice, but the icy laced in her tone had Mal rooted to the spot.

And her **eyes**. Mal shivered harder.

Her eyes had been _terrible_.

Around her among the roots of the tree, unnoticed by all, sprung dark purple, clover like flowers.

Lobelia.

_Rebuff, Dislike, Arrogance, and Malevolence._

* * *

 

_Aaaand there's chapter two! Sorry that we didn't get to see more of Jareth or his response, but YAY for introducing subplots! Don't worry about Mallie, she won't be a super important character in this story, she's just a brat. We WILL, however, be seeing what Jareth response was next chapter, so I hope you stick around for that! Petals and Pethl cuddles for all!_

_-Wild-is-good_


	4. Chapter 4

 

_ -Wild-is-good _

_ Credit to whom credit is due _

_ I own nothing but my story and the fireworks used in the above display. _

* * *

 

**_Chapter 3_ **

Sarah tromp grumpily up the hill to her dorm building. Mal just  **had** to pick the worst day for this! She was  _ so _ not in the mood for this kind bull-shite! Sarah had enough to worry about, and frankly, bratty little wanna-be prima donna's were not high on her list at the moment!

Dimly, Sarah recognized that her efforts at staying in shape were paying off. She made it to the door of her building only a little out of breath. The Labyrinth had changed her life in more ways than one, and after all the running and hanging-for-dear-life she had done she had decided that she never wanted to feel that weak again.

As she keyed her way into the girls side of the building and headed up the stairs, she slowly released her anger over Mal's behavior. It wouldn't come of anything good, and she really did have bigger things to worry about.

Like whether or not she was going to survive making contact with a wrathful fairy king. Sarah didn't wish anymore, but she did pray, and she praying like crazy right now that those flowers hadn't found him. Something in her gut told her they had.

When she reached the third floor of the building she cut across the small commons area and headed for the back of the room, were the small staircase sat that led to the top floor.

Not many girls lived on the fourth floor, and Sarah supposed that was her own fault. There weren't as many rooms up here, and the rooms were bigger, meant to house more people per room. Sarah had been assigned the room in the far back with 4 other girls. By the middle of the second semester, she had the place all to herself. By the end of her freshmen year, there was a cleared radius of three rooms on each side of the hall.

See, when Sarah move in, so did  _ the goblins _ . Now, the fourth floor had a reputation for being haunted. Sarah was fairly certain the goblins were trying to clear the whole level. She couldn't bring herself to care. Less people meant more privacy, more privacy meant more time with her friends  _ and _ less time pretending she couldn't see or hear the goblins hijinks. Randomly laughing at things no one else could see got a girl a reputation for being nuts.

Added plus? She got the whole place to herself. Sarah keyed open her door and let herself in. It was an open floor design with a short entry way that bottomed out into a small L shaped kitchen and the rest of the suite. As she passed the bathroom door in the hall she ducked her head in to make sure her makeup was still unmolested.

Krat enjoyed playing with it on occasion, and it never really survived the experience. Interestingly enough he was very good at dramatic contouring. Seeing that she did not have to buy new makeup again for the fifth time this year, Sarah skirted down the rest of the half open hallway and around the kitchen wall to her 'bedroom'.

And froze.

On her old childhood dresser across the room resting before the mirror sat a posy of flowers. She felt Tipps jump of her shoulder and scurry away. The other of the goblins seemed sensed her agitation and were taking cover. Sarah felt the world close in. She couldn't breathe.

_ 'It could be from Hoggle?' _

**_'Hoggle never sends moving flowers in a crystal vase.'_ **

The flower's waved at her.

She stared back. The drooping purple clustered flowers seemed to giggle in her direction, and the twin daisy-like ones seemed to beckon her forward. Sarah narrowed her eyes.

No, not daisies…

Aster.

Sarah drew closer. The two flowers were twined around each other. A double Aster.

_ 'I share your sentiment' _

All of a sudden the air came whooshing out of her in a flood. He shared her sentiment. He wasn't mad! Sarah grinned. Then whooped with joy. He didn't despise her! The constant tiny nagging fear of four years,  **_gone!_ ** There was just something so freeing about knowing you didn't have a seething, spurned, and bested fairy king plotting your demise!

She examined the other flowers eagerly. Tiny, almost spade shaped blooms with cream throats continued to giggle at her. After a moment of nonrecognition, she darted over to her desk on the side of the room and grab her book of flowers. Flipping through it quickly as she raced back over, she founds its match.

Setting the book down next to the vase she double checked, glancing between the page and the flowers. They nodded at her and giggled some more.

Sarah paused to appreciate how strange her life had become, then she shook herself and got back to the book.

**Glycine-** _Your friendship is agreeable and pleasing to me_

Sarah stared at them, amazed. Friend?  **He** wanted to be friends? The best she had hoped for was a ceasefire and a truce, but this? Never even in  _ her _ wildest dreams. (Those were reserved for slightly more...  _ ~intimate~ _ circumstances)

Sarah narrowed her eyes. Could it be a trick? Hoggle had told her the Goblin King had been furious when she'd won, had been in a rage that lasted  _ days _ after she left. Could this be a ruse to get back at her? She had presented him with the perfect opportunity. Because of her parting words to him, he could not enter her life in any way and could do nothing to her or the ones she loved. She, Hoggle and Didymus were all fairly certain that was the only reason he had never lashed out at the three of them for helping her. But the Fae were  _ known _ for finding loopholes, and now that she had made contact…

But was he even Fae? Or was he a goblin himself? Or, was he something else entirely? He hadn't matched the descriptions of the Fae she had found (or heard), his face had been too masculine, his jaw too square and his nose too strong.

The Fae were known for being fair and beautiful, even among their men, with fine, refined features. But, of all the goblins she'd seen then and since none had come even remotely close to looking like him. She was starting to regret that unspoken rule she and her friends had about not speaking of 'the Rat', as Hoggle was fond of calling him, unless absolutely necessary. Now she was short on information to help her decipher this out.

The flowers caught her eye again. The Asters were waving around a letter at her. A letter she was fairly certain hadn't been there before. Sarah stared incredulously. The Glycine laughed at her again. They were really starting to annoy her.

_ 'Maybe that's his evil plan. Send me annoying giggling flowers till I slowly go crazy.' _

_ 'Psychological torture. Huh. Not bad as far as plans go…' _

The asters waved the note around a little more frantically, clearly saying 'Here, take it! It for you!'

Afraid the poor things were going to wave their leave off, she took it. Turning to lean against the headrest of the bed she looked down at the message. She rubbed a thumb over the thick paper, appreciating the texture. Something about fine, well-made paper that didn't have a place anywhere in her world spoke the fantasy heroine inside her, the one who longed for adventure still. She had a feeling that part of her would never be satisfied.

Her eyes drifted down with her thumbs to the quarter sized wax seal holding the folded note shut. Pressed into it was the symbol of the crest she had seen him wear. A pronged triangular shape with horns curved slightly down, a swirling labyrinthian sign in blazed in the center.

Carefully, she peeled off the wax without breaking it to save for later inspection. She closed her eyes and took a steadying breath, then opened them and released it. Slowly, carefully she unfolded the note. Her name, in swirling, looping scrawl that looked like an odd form of cursive greeted her at the top of the page.

Part of her, the part that wasn't dying of curiosity or vibrating with trepidation, was irritated at how he could somehow make his beautiful whooshy calligraphy still look so bloody masculine, and she could barely sign her  **_name_ ** without cringing.

_ 'Perks of immortality, darling. Plenty of practice time.' _

She shook off the distracting thought returned her attention to the actual missive. At first, it was hard to read, but before her eyes, it seemed to flow into a form of cursive she recognized. The message she found within was surprisingly…  _ cordial? _

**_To Sarah Williams,_ **

**_Champion,_ **

**_Lady of the Labyrinth_ **

**_And Faerie Friend,_ **

**_It is a true delight to hear from you, dear Champion. I hope this missive finds you hale and healthy. The üghlanas tell me that you are doing well of late. My gratitude for your rather thoughtful gift. I must say, I found your little riddle_** ** _quite_** ** _entertaining. Have you solved mine yet? I've every faith that will_** **_be of_** **_no trouble for you._**

**_As to the contents of said… Have no fear precious thing, for I hold you no ill will. Your victory over the Labyrinth and even myself was merely unexpected, and truly, an_ ** **_unprecedented_ ** **_turn of events._ **

**_I feel you should know that no one, mortal or otherwise, has ever bested the Labyrinth against my will. Only a handful have managed it when left on their own, but never when pitted against myself. You should feel proud, love. You have truly earned your title as Champion and Lady of the Labyrinth._ **

**_Know, that should you ever choose to come to the Underground, you will be welcome among the Goblin Courts with fullest respect and highest honors. You may go where and do as you please with the full protection of the Labyrinth and her King. Truly, you are somewhat of a celebrity down here, even beyond the Goblin Kingdom. I hope this does not upset you_ ** **_too_ ** **_greatly._ **

(Sarah could almost  _ hear _ his smirk)

**_So, how goes life Aboveground? I receive bits and pieces of hearsay from the üghlanas, but I am interested to hear more. How goes your education? I have been made aware that you have graduated from primary school and are working on your through secondary at the moment. Congratulation, love._ **

**_What, may I ask, are you studying, or have you decided yet? What are your interests now? If I recall, you wished to be a film actress like your mother when last we met. Does the same still hold true? Or have your dreams change over these last few years? I look forward to hearing from you again soon, Precious._ **

**_~Jareth,_ **

**_King of The Goblin,_ **

**_and Lord of the Labyrinth._ **

Sarah stopped to take a moment and appreciate how  weird her life was.

Like, really.

She lived in near constant company of mischievous, slightly malefic goblins, was best friends with a rock troll, an anthropomorphic fox knight and grouchy dwarf, and had their magical fairy trickster king asking after her life.

Man, was her life messed up!

'They should write a book.'

**'Or a play.'**

"Maybe a movie..." she mused out loud.

Again, Sarah turned her attention back to the note. Could she trust him? She wasn't sure. To be honest, it all seemed too good to be true…

Sarah's eyes light up with a cunning glow. There was a way she could think of to figure out.

Sarah turned to the rest of the room.

"Who wants candy?"

* * *

_ Just a head's up, my Jareth does not look like Bowie (may he rest in peace). I feel that since that since he is not a Humen character, he doesn't look like a human. Bowie was just a human playing him ( _ **_well_ ** _ ), so he would only be a proximation of him. My Jareth would look something more similar to Melissa Findley's Jareth Velvet-and-Leather, which if you haven't had an opportunity to see this beautifulness, please allow me to be the first to interduce you. It's incredible! My version of Jareth is not an exact match to that, but it is much closer to it, and I hope the descriptions I will give of him in story will be enough to give you a clear image of him! Please enjoy, and really thank you again for your support! _

_ Sparkles and Ludo cuddles for all! _

_ -Wild-id-good _

  
  
  
  
  


 


	5. Chapter 5

_Credit to whom credit is due_

_I own nothing but the story and candy required to bribe the goblins into co-operating with it._

_-Wild-is-good_

* * *

**Chapter 4**

The ease with which it took to bribe goblins was _troubling_. Sarah wondered if **he** knew that. She would never claim to be able to control the goblins. Anyone how tried that was touched in the head and destined for failure.

She and the goblins just got on well. She got a kick out of watching most of their hijinks and they all seemed to really like her. Instead of hating her for defeating their king and taking her brother back, they respected her for it. And because they respected her, they respected her space and her things, for the most part. They even seemed to get a kick out of her own slightly twisted little streak of mischievousness.

However, that didn't mean she had any sort of authority over their actions. Sarah had tried to get them to stop messing with the kid and teachers back in high school, and she had spent the better part of two years trying to get them to stop messing with Karen and her Dad.

Goblins had this thing for taking sadistic pleasure out of tormenting serious, down-to-earth (read-boring) people, particularly uptight or stuffy ones. She had had to actually banish a few from the Aboveground permanently for coming close to hurting people around her. They hated getting "exorcized", which was the only form of power she had over them (it was an uncomfortable process when done against one's will) and she hated doing it, so they had formed a sort of truce on the subject. No injuring people who didn't deserve it or who Sarah cared about. Much more than that, she couldn't help with.

The one thing Sarah DID have on them was ready access to sweets, and a willingness to use them. She memorized of all the regulars favorites and kept them in stock, ready and waiting for times like these.

Meaning, times she needed to bribe the goblins into doing something for her. As Sarah cracked out the candy, the goblins hurried to sit quietly on her bed, watching her fixedly. She also suspected that they had just blocked travel to the vicinity so they wouldn't have to share. Before her now actually sat some of her favorites (not that she'd ever admit to it).

Pethl, who after Ludo was her favorite snuggle buddy and homework emotional support.

Tipps, who quietly judge people with her (She was in the _drama_ department. Nuf' said). His sarcasm was the only thing that kept her going some days.

Kornof the bulky, a rather larger goblin of middling height who was well known for his Firey wrestling skills. Their shared distaste over the creatures had bonded them. He also gave surprisingly good hugs and could very comforting when the need arose. One simply had to make sure to keep an eye on him afterward, or he would pay the instigator of your sorrows a visit...

Nrogg, a scary A.F. looking fellow with a disturbingly large appetite and little qualms on what he used to fill it, who was Kornof's partner in crime for the above mentioned 'visits'. He once brought her a foot from a Fireys as a present, simply because he could. Sarah was almost ashamed to admit how long they had sat there laughing as the thing hopped around uselessly trying to find its owner.

Duyz, a sweet little goblin that actually liked to help Sarah, whether it was with random chores or bringing her thing she had forgotten to class, and was a surprisingly good listener. Duyz, however, could not be trusted to not take news of slights from others directly to Kornof or Nrogg for dealing with.

And last but not least, Krat, who was not only good at contouring, but had great sense in fashion. He also often acted as messenger between Didymus and herself, as he was frequently sent to the bog for one reason or another (Generally raiding the king's wardrobe) and could actually somewhat stand the smell. He was very proud of the fact that he had yet to fall in, but everyone whispered it was just a matter of time.

She looked at the motley crew watching her expectantly from the bed and plopped into the ginormous bean bag she'd dragged across from it.

"Alright, guy, let's get started. First, who can tell me who delivered the flowers to His Majesty?"

"Nrogg's did!" Sarah smiled cheerily at him and tossed him a fun sized pack of skittles (his favorite). He looked at her like she was the sun, the moon, and the stars. She smiled brighter at him. He looked like he might pass out.

"Good job! Did he like them?" she hedged. Duyz, Tipps, and Krat gave her a knowing look.

"He send flowers back, didn't he? Note, too." Dayz pointed out.

"Why don'ts Lady ask us what she really wants to know?" Krat's said with a grin.

_'Because I'm well aware of the fact that you little sucker can/will lie to me if you know you're not supposed to tell me something...'_

"Because this's a game, and what's the fun in that!?" All 6 of them perked up.

"A game?" Pethl cooed eagerly.

_'...aaaaand hooked.'_

"A game." Sarah nodded firmly with a smile. "Were you get candy, and I get answers. I'll ask a question, and if you tell the whole truth, you get a piece of candy. The better the answer, the more candy you get. Winner is the one with the most sweets at the end. We can play as many rounds as you guys want!"

The goblins all cheered and cackled with delight, then leered at her with eager faces. The Lady always had the best games. Sarah looked at them expectantly.

"Well then? Do you all promise to play by the rules and answer truthfully?" She prompted, knowing better than to leave any sort of opening. After a moment, they all nodded eagerly and promised.

_'Like, really, really easy. I hope His Majesty doesn't trust these guys with anything important.'_

_'... **Strike that** , yes I do.'_

"All right. So Nrogg, did the king like the flowers?"

"Yeps!" She tossed him another skittles.

"How do you know?"

"Cuh Kings smile ah 'loh an' put uhm in ah purdy vahse!" Nrogg mumbled around a mouth full of colors. Sarah mentally blinked. He did? Externally, she smiled, and tossed him a final skittles.

"Why would he do that? Wasn't the King mad about 'The Girl' winning? Surely he must hate me."

They dissolved into laughter in unison. She cocked a brow.

"Well, doesn't he?" Sarah waved a candy bar lazily.

"Nh-no!" Kornof spluttered between laughs, trying to calm down as his eyes fixated on the candy bar. She flicked it to him and pulled out another.

"How do you know?"

"Cuz he likes you." at her nonplused look he continued. "Yous the Champion! All goblins likes you, the Kings especially. He talk abouts yous and asks us questions abouts 'The Lady'. How you's doing, whats you like, stuffs like that. You was the firsts you know."

"The first what?" She asked as she tossed him the candy bar and looked at him expectantly, momentarily ignoring the fact that he had basically just admitted that the goblins spied on her for her (previously here thought of) arch nemesis. Tipps cut in, clearly fed up with waiting for his turn for candy.

"Fisrt Champion, obusly! Nobody beats the Kings before." She hid her surprise at hearing the kings statement confirmed by underhanding a milky way to him.

" _Ever_?"

" ** _Ever._** " They all parroted back solemnly. She tossed them all a handful of candy, then sat back in the bean bag. She leveled them with an appraising look as she thought.

 _'Everything's lining up_ … . _Wholly crap, he was telling the truth!'_ That earlier sense of relief washed over her again.

Then Sarah narrowed her gaze on the goblin. They froze in their seats.

"I'll give you each an entire bag of candy not to report any more personal information of me to the king again without my permission." They all fixed her with their beady gaze.

"You's has the candy now?" Duyz questioned, eye's lit with conniving shrewdness. Sarah got up, taking the half full bags with her and went to her candy stash. She came back with six full assortment bags and held it up for them to see.

"Do we have a deal?" they eyed her a moment longer, then all agreed. She passed them the bags and smiled at them.

"Thanks for your help, guys."

"No pruhblum, Ladys." Krat choked out through a mouth full of food.

"Why don't you guys go take your candy home? I would like a bit of time alone, if you don't mind." The goblins nodded at Sarah and each said goodbye as the skittered into shadows or popped out of existence. In seconds, she found herself alone in the room with only her thoughts and the flowers. She stared across at them as they sat there next to her bed and waved at her.

She sat there for long moments, thinking of everything and nothing at the same time.

"Well." she finally told the flowers. "Looks like I've got a letter to write…"

~~~~J/S~~~~

Jareth heard a knock on the door. The immortal monarch rolled his eyes and shifted his study from its usual place in his private wing to the fifth floor of the north wing of the castle. That hadn't taken them very long, now had it? It had been less than 12 hours and apparently, word of the Champions' and his correspondence had already reached their ears.

_'Their intelligence network really is rather impressive, I'll give them that. Annoying, but impressive.'_

Two Greater Goblins appeared in the room, casting him faux withering glares.

"Really? Did you think getting rid of us would be that easy, Sire?" Scoffed the dark haired Othånas, mischievous gray-purple eye's belying the rebuke in his tone.

Jareth didn't even bother looking up from his work. His quills faint scratching sound on the parchment was the only response the intruders received. The green haired one smirked.

"So, tell us, Your Majesty. When exactly were you going to share the new?"

Jareth finished the missive to the Trolls and moved on to a correspondence with the High Fairy Queen.

"Clearly I didn't need too, as demonstrated by your presence." He finally looked up at them with a lifted eyebrow."Tell me, how long did it take? All of two hours? Three?" The darker one responded.

"All of about 15 minutes, Your Highness."

"We were waiting for you to tell us." His companion finished, shooting his king a reprimanding look. He shook his pale jade locks.

"Really, when were you going to tell us?" He scolded playfully. Jareth sighed and stood up from his work, walking over to his advisers and friends.

"As your king, I do believe I am not obligated to tell you anything."

"As your advisers, we should be the first to know. Really, Jareth, the Champion sends word and you didn't think to tell us right away?" Gaethin shook his green head at him again.

"You were the first it seems, and perhaps, _dear friends_ , I thought not to tell you at all?"

Raeth scoffed.

"The Lady of the Labyrinth sends word for the first time in thirteen seasons and you think NOT to tell us? Really, Jareth, you wound us so!" Jareth smirked and turn around them to walk out the door.

"Then mayhaps you should go bother Cultin, friends, instead of me."

"We have don't need a healer, we need answers, Highness," Gaethin said as they both fell into step with him. Jareth turned the corridor and abruptly walked into the Escher Room. With ease and confidence born of centuries dealing with their friend's difficulty, the two followed him in.

"And what if the missive was of a personal variety?" Jareth queered, walking down a wall to another archway. The two leered wickedly down at him from either side.

" _ **Was it**_ , now?" Raeth crooned.

"Then perhaps we shall be getting our new Queen in a timely fashion, after all." Gaethin smirked, trading a conspiratorial glance with Raeth.

Jareth shot them both half hearted glares. They had been there when he had found Sarah, and had watched as he fell in love first with the little girl, and then again with the young women. They had admired her cunning as much as he had, watching her challenge the Labyrinth, and had been shocked as he when she beat it. They had been there for the aftermath of his ultimate defeat and had seen what it had done to him to lose her. They, more than any, knew what that loss had done to him.

Personally, they had both thought that the girl could have grown into a fine queen given time, based on what they had seen her do in the Labyrinth. And any who could best not only the Labyrinth, but its King, was much better of on their side than against it. The Goblin Kingdom had enough enemies as it was, they didn't need one such as that.

But really, more than anything, they wanted to see their king, friend, and savior happy. In their goblin minds, if any deserved an eternity of love and happiness, it was him. So, in a glance, they both decided to make sure Jareth got just that, in the form of one Miss Sarah Williams. And Jareth knew it.

He opened his mouth to put an end to their schemes before they had a chance to take off, when a lesser goblin poofed in front of them, waving a letter and flowers. He felt his friend's leering smiles grow worse. Even the üghalnas before him was giving him a knowing grin. He raised a brow at the creature as he accepted the missives from its grimy claws. Its task complete and sensing danger, the smaller goblin vanished.

Jareth disappeared from the room of many stairs and appeared in what was currently the highest tower, or his personal wing of the palace. None save a select few dared to go there without special permission from himself. Like to two persistent idiots who had just appeared behind him in his personal library. He shot them withering glares and briefly contemplated threatening them with the bog, but ultimately knew it was pointless as they knew he would never actually do it. Instead, he turned his attention to the flowers and note in his hand.

Betony and Circaea.

 _'Surprise'_ and _'Fascination'_.

_'What ever could you mean by that, Precious?'_

He could feel his advisers looking at him expectantly, so he ignored them and sat down in his favorite over stuffed lounge chair, kicking his legs over the side. He hid a smirk as he felt their irritation with him growing. Flicking his wrist lazily, a gilded letter opener appeared in his fingers and he deftly used it before sending it away again. Taking hold of the note and temporarily discarding the envelope, he unfolded it and ran his eyes over the first few lines.

He didn't yet read it, just took in her handwriting. How she dotted her "i's" and "j's" with a quick flicking curl over the paper. How all her "g's" and "y's" curled and looped at their base. How she crossed all her "t's" and "f's" with small little flares. How letters seemed to flow into each other as is partially written in cursive. Always the "a", the "g", the "h" and the "u". Sometimes the "m", the "n", the "e" or the "k".

Her writing spoke of artistic confidence, caught in the halfway point between practical and dramatic. It spoke of both of someone who was innately different and longed for more, but who tried to behave properly in their world anyway. Not quite neat, but never ugly. He found her writing style rather endearing.

Finally, he returned his eyes to his name at the top and began to read.

_**Dear King Jareth,** _

_**Lord of the Goblins and Master of the Labyrinth,** _

**_I must say first, your response surprised me. I did not_ _realize you shared the goblins feelings towards me. To be completely honest with a new friend, I thought you might not take my apology very well. Now I'm left feeling rather foolish to have worried over nothing._**

**_On that note, my appreciation for your invitation to the Underground._ **

(Jareth smirked. Someone had been brushing up on their mythology. It didn't escape him that she had avoided saying 'thank you'. He could feel Raeth and Gaethin twitching)

_**I hope you'll understand if I decline at the moment. I would like to be sure that I could go and come under my own power before I venture back to the Goblin City. Nothing personal, but the last four years have taught me that most goblins have a rather twisted sense of humor by human standards, and I'd rather not tempt fate.** _

(Jareth smiled grimly again. Of course, she would want to make sure she didn't lose the 'You have no power over me' clause by relying on him or anyone else to take her to and from the Labyrinth. -'Clever Girl.'-)

_**Life Aboveground is going well. You were told correct, I have finished Highschool and am currently attending my sophomore (second) year of College. I am studying Drama as my major, and am considering picking up a minor in Art or English. My goal at the moment has changed from being a film actress to become a** **music** **theater performer.** _

_**As for my interests? I love books and learning. I always have, but in the last fou** **r** **years** _ **i** _**t has been a passion that's flared to life. I particularly love learning anything I can about the Underground, to the point I'm afraid poor Hoggle and Didymus are at their wits end with me. I enjoy painting and sketching, though I'll be the first to admit I have a long way to go in both.** _

_**In recent years I have developed a love for puzzles and dance, both of which I squarely blame you for. -** _

(Jareth had to laugh at that. - 'Cheeky little thing!'-)

**_\- And I've a developing interest in botany, which I blame Hoggle for. Much more than that, I'm afraid to say my life is rather boring. Or, as boring as one's life can be with goblins running about. Are you aware that the little miscreants have made a solid effort to clear the entire floor of my dormitory? They've mostly succeeded too! The worst of it is I'm not entirely sure I mind…_ **

(Jareth's smirk broadened again, quirking at the corner to showcase a cruelly sharp canine. It would seem he needed to award some üghalnas for a job well done.)

_**Either way, that's about all I can say for myself. I can tell you that I recently auditioned for one of the lead roles the Drama Programs newest show. It went really well, so I'm hoping I got in. If not, at least I know I'm guaranteed to get some part. It's a really funny show (or at least I think so), so it's going to be a lot of fun working in no matter what part I get. So, might I ask, how are you? I don't hear much of you from the goblins. How is everything in the Goblin City? How are things going in the Underground?** _

_**Sincerely,** _

_**Sarah Williams** _

Jareth stared at her signature for long moments, taking in everything he had just read. Final, his two friends had had enough waiting.

"Well? Is it good news, or should we be preparing the city for collateral?!" Raeth teased, though aggravation bled through his voice. Jareth shot the Greater Goblin a dark look. He ignored it and gave a jerky wave to the letter. At length, Jareth rose and answered.

"It is not bad news. She was surprised at my apparent lack of lingering anger toward her, but she welcomes the warm regard. She will not be traveling to the underground any time soon, but if very curious about it." Jareth smirked. "Apparently, she has been driving that treacherous dwarf insane asking questions after it."

The three shared a sadistic chuckle at the gardener's misfortune. Gaethin held his hand out for the letter, and after a moment's hesitation, Jareth handed it to him. Finishing after a moment and handing it to Raeth, her turned to his king.

"So what is your next move, your Majesty?" Raeth finished the letter as just as Jareth walked over to the wall of windows that line one side of the room, gazing out over his Labyrinth. He was quiet for long moments, thinking.

"We wait." Turning to raise a hand and interrupt the starts of protests from his advisers, he continued.

"We wait for her to come to us. So long as she thinks she is the one controlling the situation, she will. She has already shown interest in the Underground." He looked up to meet the eyes of his companions and subjects.

"She does not belong in that world, friends, any more than you or I, and deep down _**she knows it.**_ Magic has always called to her. She will eventually come on her own. However, if we tried to trick or force her…" Jareth shook his head slowly as he trailed off, a bitter look crossing his face. Gaethin continued for him.

"It would not end well for anyone. None of us could know what she is capable of-"

"But she is mortal, Jareth. How do we have the time to wait and do nothing while she ages and grows old?" Gaethin asked, concerned for his friend. It was blatantly obvious that their king still loved the girl, perhaps even more so than before, but humans were mortal and so vulnerable…

The Goblin King smiled. It was a very goblin smile, all sharp pointy teeth, and malefic intent. It was a smile that had struck fear into the hearts of the mighty Fae, and sent chills of terror down the spine of its unfortunate recipients. It promised nothing good. It made Raeth and Gaethin smile back.

"Who said we were doing **_nothing_**?"

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

**_Chapter 5_ **

Today was a good day. Sarah skipped a little down one of the less busy side paths she preferred over the main thoroughfares of the campus. She'd woken up with the sun and had got to watch a beautiful sunrise through the basement window of the dorm gym. Which had been gloriously empty. Pandora had played almost entirely songs she wanted to hear and she got to bast it as loud as she wanted. Her workout and stretch (she would never admit to another living soul that she did yoga, but it was a really good way to stretch flexibility) had been great.

She had made herself a delicious (read: non-burnt) breakfast of eggs and yogurt and her minimalist makeup was on point. She made it to her acting class early and found that best of all, she had made the part! If that wasn't enough, Mal hadn't even placed in the show and the part of Val had gone to Chassity, who was a great actress and generally nice person, a.k.a: someone Sarah could stand to spend large amounts of time around.

And on top of all that, she didn't have to worry about the possibility of an angry Goblin King plotting her demise from the shadows. No, said Goblin King actually liked her.

_'Imagine that!'_

After she had interrogated the goblins and written her letter, she had still had a few doubts, so she called an emergency meeting of the gang. As expected, Hoggle had been livid with her, calling her fifty kinds of crazy for exposing herself.

' _"You sent the_ **_G_ ** _oblin_ **_K_ ** _ing_ **_FLOWERS_ ** _?! What were's you thinkn', Sarah!"_

 _"This is The Rat we're talkin about! He'll finds loopholes in EVERYTHING! Does you want him to come take yous and Toby away?!"_ '

However, when she had asked if the claims the goblins and their king had made, whether the king hated her, or if anyone else had truly beat the Labyrinth, or if she really was some sort of popular icon in the Underground, were true they had all confirmed.

' _"If he hated cha', yous wouldn't be alive right now, power overs ya' or no power."_ ' Hoggle had begrudgingly admitted. ' _"Us' too."_ '

Didymus, on the other hand, took pride in his Lady's accomplishments and happily boasted of her fame throughout all of the underground. It turned out that many creature below knew of her, and many more wanted to meet her. He had even explained that because of her title of 'Champion' or 'Lady of the Labyrinth', she was completely protected by the Goblin Kingdom from any who would want to do her harm. That the goblins had the whole area around her town blocked of from any travel from those not of the Labyrinth.

And yes, Hoggle had finally admitted, she had earned the respect of the entire Higher Goblin Court. Which had led to the answering of one of her other questions; What was the Goblin King? Hoggle had explained that there were two types of goblins: Lesser and Greater, or Üghlanas and Othånas as was they were officially known as.

The lesser, or üghalnas, were the goblins she was accustomed to seeing, and the most populous. Grotesque, ranging in nearly all sizes, and nearly indestructible, they were slightly less intelligent than their taller counterparts. The Othånas, the portion the King belonged to, on the other hand, were a great deal like the Fae in appearance, power, and intelligence.

This was an adaptation that the smarter, more attractive goblins developed over thousands of years of persecution by said Fae. Sarah had found it all fascinating! She had picked their brains all night, barely remembering to summon a goblin to sent along her response before turning back to her friends.

Turns out, Goblins had always been a rather diverse species, ranging in looks, magic and intelligence. Because goblins are the living embodiment of neutral chaos, the Fae despised them. Neither dark nor light, the goblins truly answered to no one but themselves. Which meant the Fae could never truly control them, and they hated that. To the beautiful Fae, most goblins were little better than vermin, to be systematically eliminated.

So, the goblins adapted one of two ways. Only either the ones who looked similar to the fae and were smart enough to act like them, or the ones who were almost impossible to kill survived the millenniums. After enough time, there was a great gap between the two halfs of the species. The Othånas were tangled up inside the courts, were they all played a dangerous game of politics and survival, being treated as second class citizens to the Fae like many other species, and the üghalnas adapted to be able to withstand the constant hunting of the Fae.

Eventually, the goblins had had enough and had rose up against their tormentors, creating their own kingdom and welcoming into it any who were like them; neither good nor bad. The Othånas had become the ruling class, but honestly, nobody minded, as the üghalnas were a bit on the dense side. Any goblin that didn't want to be part of it was free to go and do as they will. Few chose this, and none survived.

By this time, it was well past midnight, and Sarah knew that she needed sleep if she was going to be functional the next day. So she had put away her curiosity, thank her friends and bid them goodnight. She had gone to bed, mind worrying with new information and new questions she was eager to get answers to. And she knew just who to ask. Who would know more about the Goblins history then the goblin king himself? As she had drifted of, she had prayed that he was amenable to answering her questions. If not, this friendship was going to have some serious issues…

Sarah turned her face to the sun and started humming. Yup, today was a gooooood day. Adam Lambert, Michael Buble, Elvis Presley and Bon Jovi crooned in her ear as she made her winding way down the path. She had finished all of her morning classes, and didn't have another till after lunch. In her head she sung:

**_'I got the paaaart, I got the paaaaart'_ **

**_'Jareth doesn't hate me!'_ **

Sarah froze. She hadn't so much as thought his name since the Labyrinth, too scared and unsure of the rules to know what could hurt her. A sudden pop feeling that signaled the arrival of a goblin coming just behind her to the left startled her out of her thoughts. As she down at the critter, a blinding smile froze into an unreadable expression she defaulted to when she was met, instead, with knee high boots.

For three heart thumping split seconds, her irrational mind told her that the goblin king had heard her think his name and come for her. Sarah flicked her gaze up to meet the person's face.

It was an Othånas. Not the king, but power and malevolence still radiated off him in self-amused waves. Magic, ancient and deadly, swirled around him, picked up by some sense Sarah could even describe. His eyes practically glowed with it. Her instincts screamed _'DANGER'_ , told her to back away slowly, not anger this creature and find a the nearest crowd to hide in. There wasn't another living soul in sight, and the trees block the view from the buildings.

"Aren't you a little big to be a goblin?" She asked before she could stop herself.

Her mind screamed at her: **_'Oh my gosh, Sarah,_ _SHUT UP_ _!'_ **

Sarah knew she had a very bad habit of putting on a bravado when in stressful situations, as demonstrated by the 'piece of cake' incident. The male's lip quirked and a glimmer entered his aquamarine eyes.

"Aren't you a little small to be the Champion of the Labyrinth?" He countered conversationally.

"Touche, sir." She deadpanned, hiding the beginning of a smile. Comparatively, she was the short one. Sarah barely came up passed his chin. She took a moment to take him in. He just looked so out of place in her world of college sidewalks and bulging backpacks.

His luminescent eyes had that slightly shadowed, slitted almond shape, and his bone structure that sharpness she was beginning to recognize as a trait of Greater goblins. High cheekbone in a strongly masculine face, razer jaw line, and strong nose. Sharp teeth hidden behind thin lips, except the hint of a canine peeking out one side even as he tried to hide his smirk at her quiet observation. Pointed ears peeked out of cherrywood brown hair.

His hair. Oooooooooo, his hair. If Sarah had thought Jareth's was a one shot deal, she had been very veeeeery wrong. This male hair, too, seemed to defy gravity, sticking up all over the place. It's main mass was tied up in a low ponytail that brushed the top of his back, but layers of shorter hair near the top flew in the face of physics. He had it cut so that those layers were shorter in the back and long in the the front were they it swept down over his face.

He looked like a punk rock rein fair god. The Othånas flashed her an ominous smile.

"Getting your fill of the view, my Lady?" Sarah ignored his induentdo and coutered with a question of her own.

"So tell me, is the hair a common goblin phenomena, or is it just you and his Majesty?" He raised another eyebrow

"Are you always this precocious, dear, or am I just lucky?"

"Not precocious, just curious and in a relatively good mood. The names Sarah, by the way, please do me the honor of using it." She scrunched up her nose. " I get enough of the whole 'Lady' thing from the lesser goblins."

Then she fixed him with a piercing stare. "And you didn't answer my question."

The goblin courtier mentally took a step back. There was a command in her tone that he hadn't expected, and her eyes… Her sharp, fiery green eyes left no room for disobedience. They compelled in a way few did. He could see now how they might have received their reputation for being cruel, for though now they only held expectancy, he could easily imagine them frosting over and turning cold.

He suddenly became wary, instincts rearing. This was the creature that defeated the Labyrinth in less than thirteen hours. This was the girl who ate goblin fruit but escaped and remembered everything. She might not look like much at first glance, but things were never as they seemed, were they? He decided then and there he never wanted this creature's ire directed toward _him_.

"Very well then, _Miss_ Sarah, to answer your question, yes. Styles of hair such as His Majestys and my own are common among higher goblins. And it would seem I have you at a disadvantage. I know your name, but at the moment you do not know mine." He smiled wolfishly at her, and she thought for a second he was planning on keeping it that way.

"Allow me to rectify the situation."

He swept her a long, low bow. "My name is Thairin, Member of the Goblin Court. I am at your service, Miss Sarah."

Sarah raised her eyebrows. At her service? That wasn't some pretty line of courier formality, not in the Underground. He wouldn't say that if he hadn't meant it. 'What's said is said' and all that. Here was this immortal, ancient creature of untold power and chaotic potential, and he was offering _her_ his services. It made her a little dizzy.

It was at times like these when Sarah was so, so grateful she was an actress. Without missing a beat, she flashed him a stunning smile and dipped a little curtsy (in jeans) before responding.

"Your offer flatters me, sir. I will be sure to keep it in mind should I need any small favor." Meeting his mildly unsettling eyes, she continued. "So what, may I ask, has brought you to Aboveground today?"

Thairin flashed her another smiled. This little human could do just fine for herself in the Courts.

"I've brought you a _gift_." He flourished a bouquet of flowers that hadn't been there a moment before.

"From His Majesty." He clarified as he handed it off to her.

"These blooms are ones that are particularly delectable to üghalnas, and His Majesty wanted to be sure you received them in their fullest." He added by way of explanation.

_' **And, I suspect, to have me meet you so that I might spread** word **through the Court of the Champion.'** _

**_'Rather audacious of His Highness to assume that I would not form an unflattering opinion of his lady love.' He passed a moment looking the young women over._ **

**_'Damn him, but I think he had it right… again.'_ **

Sarah took in the bundle. It was as bizarre as her first one had been. It had flowering twigs in the center with blooms surrounding them on all sides.

On the outer edge of the bouquet hung cascades of White Heather. Sitting just behind them were tiny pink bunches of half puckered flowers: Coronilla. Full White Roses with sizable patches of red vine flowers she guessed to be Geranium woven around them made up the middle layer.

Woven around the thin branches were luminescent white vine flowers she had seen growing on the walls of the Labyrinth. The twigs themselves presented a bit of a challenge. Until one sprouted a cherry right before her eyes, that is.

Sarah had to look closer to figure out the second. It had small, two layered yellow flowers. The top layer was five tear-dropped shaped petals, and the bottom was four slim petals poking out in between the bigger ones. The proverbial light bulb went off in her head. Corchorus.

Sarah smiled at his waggish messages.

White Heather meant **_'Good Luck'_ ** , and Coronilla meant loosely _' **Success crown your wishes'** , _ him wishing her good luck with her addition.

Geranium ment _'Your hand for the next dance?'_ and White Roses ment **_'I am worthy of you'_.**

 _' **For my will is as strong as yours…'** _ she thought ruefully.

A rather blatant challenge. Some snarky, competitive little corner of her mind briefly contemplated taking him up on it. It was the last message, however, that really made her smirk.

Cherry tree ment **_'Education'_ ** or _' **Knowledge'** _ . Corchorus ment **_'Return quickly'_ **. The Labyrinthian flowers were ones she and Hoggle had talked about before. They only grew on one section of the outer wall of the Labyrinth, near the main gates, and were know throw out the Underground as a symbol of the maze. (Underground lore said that if you plucked one of the flowers and wore it, you would avoid most pitfalls of the Labyrinth. Hoggle had told her it was hogwash. He complained the only thing they were good for was attracting biters.)

Put together they meant **_"Return, and I will tell you all you want to know of the Underground."_ ** Thairin spoke up then.

"His majesty also wanted me to inform you that the royal library is at your complete disposal should you ever visit the Goblin City." Sarah had to smile at that, shaking her head.

Thinking quickly, she willed a wild daisy to her hand and handed it to the male in front of her. He looked flabbergasted.

"Here, would you do me the honor of taking this back to His Majesty with my warm regard?"

He stood in stunned silence, staring down at the flower in his hand. He turned his lightly glowing eyes up at her, as if seeing her for the first time. A wary, almost respectful look entered his eyes, and he nodded his head.

"As you say, Champion." He swept her a much more formal bow. "Fairfarren, Lady Sarah." He disappeared in a puff of glittery smoke before Sarah could correct his use of her titles. She stomped her foot in irritation, then ruefully realized what she'd done. Some old habits died harder.

She sighed to the sky, then had to smile. All in all, it was still a good day. She smiled brighter as she looked down at the flowers in her hands. So, the Goblin King could be playful...

Wild Daisy _\- ' **I will think on it'**. _


	7. Chapter 7

**_Chapter 6_ **

Jareth was in the garden, speaking to a group of disgruntled gardeners when Thairin found him.

"Pardon the interruption, your majesty." The courtier said, sweeping his king a quick but respectful bow. "I bring news from Lady Sarah."

Jareth nodded at him to continue, carefully concealing his anticipation. The gardeners shifted uneasily, concerned that any unfavorable news might mean weeks of rebuilding the gardens. Again.

"The Lady Sarah sends along her warm regards and sends this in response to your message." Thairin presented his king with the wild daisy. Jareth stretched out his gloved hand to accept the bloom, smirking at its meaning.

**_'Do not think too long, Precious. My patients cannot last forever.'_ **

When Thairin did not excuse himself after delivering his message, Jareth lifted a brow. Thairin just looked at his monarch for a moment, as if not sure what to do. One of the dwarfs roughly cleared their throat, clearly telling the Othanas to either get on with it or get lost.

Finally, he spoke. "It would appear that the Champion has some magic of her own, my lord. She created that flower on the spot to send me off with." Jareth let surprise splash across his face before he smiled.

"Does she now?" The king looked far too pleased for the safety of anybody in the near vicinity. There was a reason  **_he_ ** was king, and no one wanted to be on the reserving end of  **that** smile.

Jareth dismissed the dwarfs with some final instructions then excused himself from their company. Thairin had a court to go gossip too, and Jareth had a letter to write.

...

Truly, sometimes it felt like the universe was against him. By the time Jareth made it back to his study, it was approaching nightfall.

First, he had been a pestered by members of the court, asking whether it was true the Lady of the Labyrinth was going to be visiting soon. Then, he had to deal with a dispute between a group of üghalnas and an Othånas that was about to go critical. By the end, he had tossed the lot of them into an oubliette on Higworts Thursday clearing rotation and the ringleaders into the Bog with specific instructions to Sir Didymus to not let them cross. The Bog was one of the many places in the Labyrinth that canceled out transportory magic, and Didymus, for all his quirks, was not one to be trifled with when under orders. Those two would not be leaving to bother him again anytime soon.

But before he could make his way to his haven, a blasted envoy from one of the Winter Courts came demanding to know why he was 'playing' with the time flow. He couldn't and wouldn't tell them that it was to keep time Underground in sync with Above, so as to make communication easier between himself and Sarah, so he diplomatically told them it was because he bloody well felt like it and if they didn't like it he would be more than happy to freeze time altogether for the whole of the Winter Fae.

That got them to leave nice and huffy, which helped to alleviate his bad mood somewhat, until he received a very perturbed message back from the Pixie Chieftess. Apparently, she did not appreciate her people being sprayed like common pests. His response was to tell her that he did not appreciate her people hanging around his labyrinth biting his workers and visitors, and that they were free to leave and not get sprayed anymore. He could already hear her bell-like screeching.

Then he'd gotten a runner.

Jareth sank back into his chair with a heaving sigh and closed his eyes. He was seven hours in and this fool wasn't getting anywhere. Perhaps he was ruined from Sarah’s unparalleled run, but every challenger he'd had since left him with a bad taste in his mouth. It wasn't that he wanted them to win, but it certainly wouldn't hurt them to actually present a challenge.

The centaur currently trying to make its way through his little 'piece of cake' (yes, he was still a little sore about that) was presenting a poor representation for its people. Jareth called up a crystal, and seeing how the idiot was still stuck in the stone portion of the maze, sent a stampede of Nok'ivavork (carnivorous horse-like creatures), after him. The look of terror on the challenger's face made the Goblin King smile cruelly before the crystal winked out of existence. He could feel no pity for a creature who had knowingly wished away its own for a chance at being crowned 'Champion'.

Since his defeat at the hands of a mortal, many had tried to test and best him, thinking him now somehow weakened. He had had a flood of wished away challengers, and the Fae had been more subtly poking around for any weakness in hopes of finally crushing the Goblin Kingdom.

They were quickly corrected. The Underground had once again been reminded the Labyrinth and it King's were not to be trifled with. Still, there was an influx of idiots trying to claim the title of Champion of the Labyrinth. He felt it was almost his job to protect the title from these ingrates for Sarah, and he did so religiously.

Jareth closed his eyes again, trying to summon up the proper mood to deal with his said wayward lady-love.  **She** was not one to be approached without care.

His eyes snapped back open to fix a terrifying glare on an üghalnas as it made its presence known on his desk with a small  _ 'plop' _ . The poor goblin cowered in fear, hiding behind a letter, with his name scrawled across the front in Sarah's handwriting, as if it were a shield.

Jareth felt instantly felt the tension drain out of his body, even as a new much more pleasant one arose to coil around his insides and settle in the vicinity of his heart. He accepted the offering from the creature with a nod, letting it escape unharmed and sending a sweet along with it as an extra reward.

**_'I can be generous.'_ ** He thought ruefully. He glanced down at the note in his hand.

**_'More often than not when you are involved, love.'_ **

He took a moment to simply take the note in, savoring the fact that it was from  _ her _ and that it was for  **him** .

He might have been otherwise concerned with how taken he was with her, but time for that had long past, and he couldn't quite find the will to care. It was rare, even among immortals, to find one's soulmate. He had almost lost her once, his over-eagerness in having found her causing him to act rashly. He winced to think now of how he'd failed to take into account her youth and view of the whole situation. He would not be making the same mistake again.

Satisfied with this thought, he opened the note.

**_To His Majesty the Goblin King,_ **

**_How are you, your Highness? My gratitude for the bouquet you sent me today. It was quite lovely, and I genuinely appreciate the fact that none of these flowers g_ ** **_iggled_ ** **_._ **

(He smirked.  _ 'So very hard to please, love.' _ )

**_I write bearing great news:_ **

**_I Got The PART!_ **

(A real smile touched the corners his lips. Her exuberance was contagious.)

**_And not only that, but all my fellow cast members are skilled, competent actors and actresses whose company I can actually stand! That may not sound like much, but when you're forced to spend long, tedious hours with these people, it's a Godsend!_ **

( _ 'Oh, Precious,' _ he thought,  _ 'I understand all too well.' _ There were few things Jerath hated as much as Court Day's.)

**_As to you 'invitation':_ **

**_Hmmm,_ ** **_tempting_ ** **_, but I will still have to think about it. I really don't fancy the idea being stuck Underground. I don't think my professors will take 'I was trapped in the fairy realm at the mercy of the Goblins' as a valid excuse, and frankly I pay to much for these classes to get dropped for poor attendance._ **

**_So because I am unable to visit for the time being, tell me, how go thing Below? You have the benefit of the üghalnas to keep you informed of happenings Above, but I have no such luck. My friends are no good, as Hoggle likes keeps his distances from the courts (for good reason), Didymus spent most of his time in the Bog, Ludo keeps to his rock, and anytime I try to ask the üghalnas they start cooing/snickering and asking me if I '_ ** looooves **_' the 'Kingy'. (I swear they're like a bunch of_ ** **_middle schoolers_ ** **_)_ **

(Jareth snorted. That was an excellent (and too kind) way of describing them.)

**_So, I suppose I will just have to go straight to the source. Anything particularly interesting/annoying/amusing happened of late? And how are you? If you don't mind a little friendly nosiness, what do your days look like? What is a day in the life of a Goblin King like?_ **

**_Feel free to rant about whatever you want, I won't judge. No basis for comparison and all that._ ** _ (Here she drew a little smiley face with its tongue sticking out) _

**_Sincerely,_ **

**_Sarah Williams_ **

Jareth couldn't help the small smile on his face. She really was a precious thing. Bold, humorous and kind. So curious and so caring.

He was reminded all over again of that little girl who would chase off other children tormenting the swans and geese, with their  _ own _ sticks.

Looking back, perhaps he shouldn't have been so surprised at the friends she'd made during her run. He felt his heart give a nearly painful thump. Her people's loss, really, for not appreciating the beautiful conundrum that was Sarah Williams. He would be more than happy to take her and do it for them.

Pulling out parchment and quill, he quickly set to writing his response.

~~~~~~J/S~~~~~~

Sarah sighed in frustration. Why was math soooooo HARD?! She flopped back into Ludos side and tried to bury herself in his fur. Anything to hide from these STUPID PROBLEMS she couldn't seem to solve. She didn't even know what she was doing wrong!

Throw her into a Labyrinth full of pitfalls, traps and deadly monsters with an unending supply of riddles and puzzles to be solved? No problem, she sees your thirteen-hour time limit and raises you ten.

Put a complex log/(fg) problem in front of her? Sit back and watch her pull her own hair out!

' **_Terrifying to think that all the Goblin King had to do to win was ask me to solve a math sheet. He could have given me all the resources too, and I still would have lost!_ ** '

(Sarah still refused to even think his name, so as to avoid a slip-up and say it out loud, thus inviting him to come to her. She wasn't sure if she was ready to lose that safety net, particularly after today's meeting with Thairin had reminded her that she hadn't over imagined the overwhelming aura she'd felt around Him.)

It was frustrating to think that there was something she just couldn't wrap her mind around. She turned her head to look over at Ludo, who was curled up cat-like around her in her truly humongous bean bag.

In all honesty, she had bought it for him, despite it costing a small fortune. Just like how she had bought the large, comfy armchair that sat in the corner between her bed and the wall of bookshelves/ her desk that sat perpendicular to it for Hoggle. Didymus just like to sort of perch on things, so she hadn't gotten him anything special at his insistence.

Ludo looked back at her with sympathetic eyes. She half buried her face in his side and pouted at him.

"It's not fair…" She whispered dramatically, hiding a tiny smile. Ludo gave a small chuckle at her before curling his tail over her stomach comfortingly. That had become sort of a running joke among the four of them.

Sarah ignored the inaudible pop that signaled the arrival of another goblin. There was a whole group of them playing card games in her 'dining room', or the section of the dorm that lay parallel to the short hallway and open kitchen where she kept her dinner table (and extra bookshelves). They were being fairly noise, but that had long ago ceased to bother her. She had picked up that skill people who often dealt with small children had to tune out the chaos but be alert for anything troubling.

There was a course clearing of throats. It sounded sort of like a meat grinder filled with granite in a lower decibel. Sarah suppressed a wince, though poor Ludo shuddered, and turned to look at the creature trying to get her attention.

The goblin, or 'üghalnas' she reminded herself, in front of her was one of the medium-sized ones that came up to her thigh, with a star-nosed mole rat's nose and orange beady eyes. It had sparse, wiry, olive-colored hair, tusks that looked like they could kill you from diseases as much as puncture wounds and its legs were inverted the way a dog or cats are.

All in all, not something you want to find under your bed.

Sarah didn't even blink. Though she did note that it was probably higher up the chain due to its ugliness. She, Sarah decided. This one was a She. As a lasting effect from the days of the Gobin hunting, üghalnas who were uglier or scarier tended to get more regard from their fellows, the way humans did with the ones they deemed attractive or smart.

The goblin presented her with a letter.

"Ffffruums Hiss Majeeeestys." Ground out the üghalnas is a harsh, ear-grating voice.

Deeeeeefinitely did not want to find this one under your bed at night. Sarah smiled at her and accepted the missive with a nod.

"Are you going to stay for game night?" She invited warmly. "I think they're playing a modified Egyptian Ratscrew and Spades."

The creature smiled at her, a truly horrifying sight to see, then shook her head.

"Hasss to gggetss back to castle." With that, she bowed and popped from existence, presumably back to the Underground.

Ludo shuddered again. It was Sarah's turn to give the big guy a sympathetic smile, patting his shoulder before she turned back to the letter in hand. Again, she was confronted with what seemed to be the symbol of the Labyrinth's King.

She knew it was silly, but she truly loved the whole esthetic of these notes. The fine, thick parchment, the wax seal she could just imagine getting poured over the folded letter, then pressed down with a signet ring or ornate stamp. In her mind's eye, she could even see the feather of a quill pen looping and dancing its way the page, leaving behind the thoughts and words of an immortal fairy tale king in its wake.

Not just any king though. A  **_Goblin King_ ** . It stirred the adventurer inside her, the creature that had loved the challenge and thrived in the Labyrinth, even as her conscious mind whirled with worry and guilt over her brother.

If she were honest with herself, which she tried to be, she missed magic. The little tastes of it she got through the goblins and her friends were enough to keep her from going mad in this plain world, but she really did miss being submerged and surrounded by it.

It made His Majesty's offer all that more tempting. Sarah wasn't stupid, however. She knew better than to trust freely in a world of fantasy. Even her friends could be sly and tricksome, for all their good intentions toward her. Until she was sure she could come and go without needing of outside help, she was just going to have to be stuck on this side of the veil.

Ludo shifted underneath her, playfully grumbling and swatting her head with his furry tail. She laughed at him, batting it away and giving into her curiosity as to what the Goblin King had to say.

**_To my dear Champion,_ **

**_Congratulations, Precious! I'm most pleased to hear of your success! I bore no doubts about it. Any creature who could look an immortal King in the eyes and tell him his Labyrinth was a 'piece of cake' without flinching is more than talented enough to win any part she desires._ **

(Sarah colored slightly. That one was up on her list of moments 'Sarah's Mouth Needed To NOT'.)

**_As to the fellow members of your cast, I understand the sentiment perfectly, Love. I dread the hours I am forced to endure Court Day. I also regret the oath I made not to_ ** **_Bog_ ** **_anyone during said meeting._ **

(Sarah let out a laugh. She could just see Jare-  **THE Goblin King-** on his throne, trying desperately not to strangle or bog all the idiots before him as they fought over some prized chicken (For some reason Sarah couldn't pinpoint, lesser goblins were obsessed with them) or who bit who.)

**_That leads to your questioning. You are certainly right, I'm afraid you haven't any other means available to you at the moment to hear of the goings on of myself or our world (and you are not far off in your deduction on the üghalnas.)_ **

**_Forgive me if I continue to hold to my aforementioned offer for information on the Underground, but really, Precious, you must leave me_ ** **_some_ ** **_leveraging room. I would, however, be more than happy to give you a view into 'a day in the life of a Goblin King', as you put it. I will do my up most to keep ranting to a minimum, though you have picked a wonderful day to offer reception._ **

**_It has been one of those days._ **

**_I'm sure you must be familiar with them. It started out with complaints from the gardeners about the soils being too frequently shifted and üghalnas terrorism on certain plantly life of_ ** **_questionable_ ** **_edibility, and has continued on from there._ **

**_Also, it might only be fair of me to warn you that Didymus will be busy for the next several days. There was a rather volatile (and idiotic) dispute between a Courtiare and a group of üghalnas. The courtier's pride had been wounded over some practical joke pulled on him, and the üghalnas did not appreciate his attempts at retaliation. The ringleader are going to keep Didymus occupied for some time while the rest have time to reflect on their own idiocy till you dwarf releases them next thursday._ **

(Sarah laughed. She couldn't help it. She could practically feel his seething irritation wafting up from the letters, and she did get it.)

**_Then, there was the odd complaint from the Pixie Chieftess, who can't seem to realise that if she and her people are going to behave like pests then they are going to be treated as such, and an unwelcome intrusion in the form of a delegation from one of the Winter Courts of Fae, fairly sums up my day. To top it all off, I have a runner who has managed to thoroughly provoke my ire._ **

(Was it wrong that she found his vexation to be hilarious? She didn't know, so she should probably stop laughing.)

**_Suffice it to say my dear, that he will NOT be completing the Labyrinth._ **

**_Do not think I blame you for this Precious, but ever since your astounding run there has been a surplus of arrogant, overeager fools who think they can replicate the feat. Placement for all these wished away has been a nightmare for my poor adviser and his stewards. It never ceases to amaze and disgust me how many will wish away another for a chance at glory._ **

(Sarah could feel guilt and regret beginning to claw at her stomach again.)

**_Perhaps I should stop here and make a point to say that I do not apply any of these things to you, dear. You were an over burdened, distressed child, and in all candor, I groomed you into doing so. I will admit, I was the one who gave you that book you so loved to plant the idea in your head._ **

(Sarah blink.  _ 'What?' _ )

**_Since I am being candid right now, I must admit that I intended for both you and your brother to come reside Underground as my wards. I first found you when you were little, and was enchanted by your vivid imagination and utter love of my world. Never before have I met a mortal who had not just a spark, but an_ ** **_inferno_ ** **_of dreams such as yours inside them._ **

**_I watch as you grew unhappy in your own world, and was forced to watch as it slowly tried to crush that wild fire within you. I am the King of Dreams, Love, I could not abide watching ones such as your's die. So I thought to bring you to my own world and let you have all the adventures and magic your heart desired. And if your family could not understand and appreciate you for what you are, they did not deserve the chance to ruin two children at ones._ **

(Sarah felt her heart lurk. While her mind was reeling from the implications of it all, deep in her heart, where her wilder dreams lay protected, her longings stirred for those things he had thought to offer her. It was a very eldritch, twisted kind of logic, to trick her and steal her from her home, but her heart understood the meanings behind it. She felt, perhaps now she knew what had been in those crystals…)

**_But alsa, I made the unfortunate mistake of underestimating the very one I admired so much. Rest assure, Love, I will strive never to make it again._ **

_ ('Well, that's not ominous at all…') _

**_Which brings us back to our present conundrum. Precious, your lack of faith wounds me so! I, of course, would not want you to risk your academic career nor waste the money you have invested in it. What to do? You will not trust in one of us, widely considered a wise move, and I will not simply tell you all you wish to know, rogue that I am._ **

(Sarah smirked. At least he didn't have any self-delusions…)

**_I think, Precious, the answer to our problem is closer than it appears. I have been led to believe you have developed a certain amount of your own magic. Allow me to preface now that, no, I had nothing to do with that. That has no connected to those 'certain powers' I'm sure you are thinking of._ **

**_Since it is impossible for a species to develop magic in a world without it, which is why human in your world have none, my only hypothesis as to what could have happened is exposure to the Underground seeded magic inside of you,_ **

**_(As none leave it or the Underground without traces of it. It is why your people have called those who have been exposed to it being 'Touched')_ **

**_and because of your very nature it bloomed into a full manifestation._ **

**_I would not be surprised at all to learn that the Labyrinth itself gifted it to you. It is quite as fond of its Champion as I am._ **

(Sarah flushed again as her memory showed her the very end of her time within the Labyrinth. The crystal ball He had thrown up had seemed to float down directly to her, and her hand had seemed to reach up of its own accord, before it popped in her fingers. Perhaps he wasn't far off.)

**_Whatever way it happened, it is yours, clearly to use as you please. As such, allow me to present you with these gifts. Be sure to read through them carefully, but pay extra attention to pages 246-251 of one, and page 114, third paragraph down of the other._ **

**_I look forward to hearing from, and perhaps seeing, you soon._ **

**_~Jareth, King of the Labyrinth_ **

Sarah let out a soft  _ 'whompf' _ as two ornate, beautiful, leather bound tomes dropped into her lap.

She stared at them. Her brain felt officially overloaded. It was racing in a million different directions, trying to process everything she had read.

Somehow, now that the shock had worn off, she wasn't surprised to find he'd been watching her. Actually, the more she thought about it, the less any of it surprised her. It all sounded like something straight out of a fairytale, and that's what she was dealing with. She had long ago accepted that half of her life was considered a 'fairytale'. Goblin King's stealing away young girls because he thinks she's unhappy in her own world. Sounded like something straight out of the Brothers Grimm.

_ ' _ **_The Grimms would have had a ball with this one…'_ ** she thought distantly. Slowly her brain calmed down into a strange sort of acceptance. In the end, she decided she was still glad she won. She knew that she would have always felt a nagging guilt over her parents and for her brother, even if her heart still silently longed for all the promised adventure.

Ludo shifted underneath her.

"Srwah?" the gentle giant lowed softly, sensing his friend's distress. Sarah shook her head and glanced up at him with a smile.

"I'm ok, Ludo." Ludo smiled softly back.

"King gave Sawah pwesent." He pointed out benignly. Sarah's smile brightened.

"I know." She turned back to the books in her lap. "Let's see what he gave me!" Ludo hummed in agreement as she picked up the first of the two. It had brown leather binding with red and copper detail. The ornate title flowed and shimmied in a similar way the Goblin King's first letter had to read;

**_Enchiridion of Magic_ **

Sarah smiled. Sarah smiled big. In fact, Sarah's smile was more on par with being called a sh**-eating Grin with a very capital G then it was with a smile. Glancing back at the letter, she opened it up to page 246.  **_Teleportation - Realm Crossing_ ** stared up at her from the top of the page.

Sarah's smile got impossibly wider. From the outside viewer perspective, it lit up her whole face, leaving no room for any other emotion on it.

Ludo rumbled happily, glad to see his favorite human happy again. Sarah snuggled deeper into his side in response and pick up the other book. It was emerald green with actual pressed flowers and little jewels inlaid into the cover. Sarah could only stare at the costly gift in amazement for a moment, only then truly taking in that her pen pal was a  **_KING_ ** . A wealthy one at that, if his casual gifts were any indication.

"Perrrrwidy" Ludo cooed.

**_'Prrrrrrretty indeed.'_ ** Finally, Sarah read the cover.

**_A Complete Compendium_ **

**_of Underground Flora_ **

She let out a tiny laugh. Still smile wide, she flipped to page 114. Inside there were pictures of flowers that, when you stared at them, seemed to grow larger and take up the whole page, but as soon as you glanced away they were back to their original size.

**_'Gotta love magic'_ ** Sarah thought fondly. She scanned to the third paragraph down.

It showed the image of a triplet of flowers spraying from one stock with a multitude of ruffled pansy like petals that started startling blue at their base and turned abruptly into shocking purple. That was really the only way to describe the colors. It was beautiful in a strange, almost freakish way. She turned her eyes to the information on it.

_ Halolaccis: _

_ Found in the Forests of the Greenmen and in select parts of the Goblin King Jareth's' Labyrinth. _

_ Language of Flowers: Try not my patience long love, for I hunger for your mystifying presence _

**_'He certainly knows how to flatter a girl.'_ ** She thought bemused. Then again, maybe being able to mystify an immortal being was a compliment.

She closed the book and looked over the two side by side. She didn't bother to try and fight the smile off anymore. Ludo rumbled again at her pleasure. She turned her smile up at him.

Math homework be damned,  **_she_ ** had some  **_real_ ** studying to do.


	8. Chapter 8

_Authors notes: GEuss Who Has 20 Reviews??!?! AHJKGKASHJDGNkhjdbhj!! Omg thank you guys so much for all your love and support! Please feel free to ask me any questions about anything, I love answering them!!_

_Credit to whom credit is due_

_I own nothing but your imaginations for the duration of this chapter_

_-WildisGood_

* * *

 

**_Chapter 7_ **

Jareth had always held a strange sort of fascination with humans. They were just so … changeable. In a world where things moved slower than tar in winter, Humanity was always progressing, moving forward in some way or another. His goblin mind loved to see their inventions, inspiring a few of his own, and he delighted in how quickly their language changed. Before the all-tongues spell was created, he used to use new variants and dialects of human tongues as a sort of code between himself and fellow goblins. It was a side hobby of his to try and keep up on different idioms and jargons throughout the Above when he had the time.

A recent, colorful idiom came to mind that fairly well summarized the state of affairs right now.

The S***'s hit the fan.

Jareth sighed as he rubbed his temples. Tendrils of dark sparks were slowing crawling their way from his person, pooling in corners to slowly fizzling out of existence. It a sure sign to any observer that the King was probably best left alone right now.

The Fae were at it again.

He glared balefully over his fingers at their most recent declaration of war against the Goblin Kingdom. The Winter Courts were up in arms about his threats to their time and were gathering supporters amongst the other fae. The some of the Darklings and Nightmare creatures were joining in for the fun of it.

It was a nuisance.

Jareth felt someone coming up the hall and without looking up moved his study into a wall of the Labyrinth with a new view overlooking a rather swampy lake.

He briefly considered simply stopping time for the entire Fae race altogether as he watched the admittedly strange looking 'fish' of the lake jump from the water to catch pixies.

**_"It would insult their pride's quite nicely…"_ **

He dismissed the thought, if only for Sarah's sake. She would no doubt end up getting drawn in if he were to escalate the fight, which would embitter her to him for taking away the life she had fought so hard to win.

There was a 'pop' from his desk.

Malicious magic swirled around the room, murderous eye glaring down at the smallish intruder, their exotic colors lost to the reflective sheen intensified by their owner's ire.

The goblin before him trembled, shakily raising a letter to his lord.

Jareth instantly noted the paper, the type only Sarah used, and the oppressive magics vanish from the room. Counseling his pleasure and fooling no one he accepted the letter.

The creature before him sagged in relief.

He shot it a pointed look.

"Haven't you somewhere to be, Gilleegen?"

Gilleegen scampered off with a shaky solute to his monarch.

Jareth waited a moment, before sending the scamp to an oubliette to keep him from reporting back to Raeth and Gaethin too soon. He was slowly ferreting out their little network

Opening the note, Jareth smiled as Sarah's words rose off the page to him. It described her excitement over the books he'd given her, thanking him in that indirect way, and described what she'd found interesting. She wrote of her first practice with the rest of her cast and of the annoyance a certain unnamed individual who was apparently in possession of appalling green hair was giving to them. She described her life and then asked after his and he couldn't quite help the small smile that grew on his face at his future Queen's words.

When he'd put the letter down still softly smiling he felt the tingling buzz of magic come from his desk. As he glanced down he watched as the letter transformed into a little mossy square of grass, with minuscule multi-colored rose-bud like blooms, carpeting it.

Aiscügal Lturach or 'Hidden Jewels'.

Roughly translated - ' **_Patience is a virtue.'_ ** .

~~~~J/S~~~~~

**_"I could really use a distraction right now."_ ** Sarah thought dully as she sat through another agonizingly slow music theory class. She could barely grasp the concept, and with how late she stayed up the last couple nights studying the books Jar-  **The Goblin King** , gave her she could barely grasp consciousness. Falling asleep in class was also not a good way to endear yourself to a teacher you needed to like you, either.

**_"Yuuuuuup, a distraction would be great right about now."_ **

As if on command, a soft sliding sound came from her desktop.

She glanced down only to be greeted with the sight of Kipps scooting an imperial letter across her desk. The sly look he was giving as he did it reminded her of highschool days of passing notes in class, and she couldn't quite help the smile that blossomed in one corner of her mouth.

She stealthily nodded her thanks as she quietly picked up the note. With ease of practice she peeled it open to read its contents. With one ear tuned in toward the teacher she read how the silly war the Fae had started was progressing, what hijinks his own court was getting up to and she smiled softly as he ranted about his adviser's spy network, that seemed to grow the more he ferreted it out. He asked after her studies, mundane and magical, then proceeded to tantalizingly tease her with the prospect of the untold amounts of knowledge to be gained within his library.

By the time she finished it, she was in a significantly better mood. It also hadn't escaped her that his letters and riddles were becoming progressively more flirtatious. While she didn't know if that was just because they were becoming more comfortable with each other or something else, it didn't exactly hurt her pride to have such a being's flattery directed toward her.

What she could say for sure was she always looked forward to letters from her illustrious penpal, and honestly felt like she was making a friend.

~~~~~~~J/S~~~~~~~~

Jareth flopped into his throne with his signature feline, carefree yet dignified grace. He tilted his head back and rubbed a hand over his face. He HATED court days. He always hated them, but with the war it was even worse than usual, with everyone trying to voice their opinion on this or that and all the younger Othånas clamoring to join the fight. He was going to cancel the next one just to spite them all.

In the middle of his stewing, he heard Gaethin booted steps coming up to his dais.

"Yes." He drawled in an unamused tone.

"I come bearing gifts." His green haired friend said with an audible grin.

Jareth didn't move.

"Unless it comes in the form of a surrender from Ithiavol or note from the Champion, I remain uninterested."

"Then I think you'll find this quite interesting, my friend."

Jareth glanced out from under his hand. Gaethin presented him with a cardboard box of middling size with a bundle of plants taped to the top. Jareth swung himself upright, exempting the gift.

What caught his eye first was the large white rose bloom. Roses had many meanings, particularly white ones, but this one had two closed blooms underneath it, placed in such a way that the eye easily passed over them. The meaning?

**_'Secrecy'_ ** .

Partially helping to hide these buds where leafy greens and small bunches of tiny white flowers.

Rhubarb, Coltsfoot. ' **_Advice'_ ** and ' **_Justice will be done to you'_ **

**_"What are you up to, Precious?"_ **

Jareth casually waved his hand at Gaethin, dismissing him. He could feel his friend wavering on whether or not to push, but ultimately and wisely decided to leave his monarch in peace.

Jareth waited a moment before casually announcing:

"Anyone who does not wish to spend the night in the Fiery Forest might want to take their leave of the area immediately."

His sharp ears picked up the panicked squeals and softly running footsteps as the area cleared. Waving his hand one last time, the brave(or stupid) souls that had stuck around found themselves trapped in the Fiery Forest for the night.

Jareth turned his attention back to the box. Quirking his head to the side, he plucked out a note that had been tucked under the stems for safe keeping. He smiled as he explained it. She had used a basic warning spell that alerted a magic baring receiver if the letter had been tampered with. One did this by sealing it to a specific person, and should any but that person try to read it, the ink would blur and the paper turn some outrageous color. He was quite proud of her, she was learning quickly over these last few weeks.

Folding it open, he found an equally delightful massive inside.

**_Dear Goblin King,_ **

**_I am sorry to hear of your troubles routing Raeth and Gaethin's spy network. If it is not too presumptuous of me, I might just have the solution._ **

**_While I'm sure you are aware of their bribe ability, what you may not be aware of is that üghalnas have an insatiable LOVE of Aboveground candy. I have found that they will do just about anything you want for a snickers bar or skittles. (Seriously, I'm pretty sure they have a black market going for the stuff.) And as of right now, I am their only provider._ **

**_With that being said, within the box I sent you is a very large supply of some of the goblins favorite candies. I'm sure you will have no trouble piecing together what to do from there._ **

**_Let me know if you end up needing more._ **

**_Best of luck,_ **

**_Sarah Williams_ **

Jerath' smile was feral as he grinned down at her gift. Standing and teleporting to his private chambers, he sliced open the box with one sharp claw-like nail and dumped the contents onto his personal desk. He found more bags of industrial sized, multi-brand candies then the little box should have ever been able to hold.

He smiled down at the gift, gleefully aware that his adviser's unstoppable spy network's days were numbered.

~~~~~~J/S~~~~~~

(Later that day)

When Sarah walked into her dorm for the night, she found resting on her dresser a beautiful spray of underground roses of pink and purple wound around each other, with three wicked-looking thorns on each stem and two leafs a piece.

" **_My love, your cunning bite makes me glad of your friendship"_ **

Sitting next to it on the desk was her very own  _ beautiful _ ink and quill calligraphy set.

* * *

 

_ Author's notes: I actually have meanings for all the Underground plants displayed above. _

_ Purple (underground ) Rose: Captivated, Bewilderment at lover, ect..  _

_ Pink (underground) Rose, trusted friendship, partner in crime, etc. _

_ Three thorns: Dangerous, Bite, Cunning.  _

_ Two leafs: Balance to whatever message is being sent, ie., if negative connotation, mean it in a good way. _

_ Ok, so this shout-out is for everyone who kept leaving comments for me. You really don't know how much it makes me want to write more. Thank you all so much for keeping up with this story, and get ready, because about two chapters from now our little lovebirds are going to meet up !!! _


	9. Chapter 9

**_Chapter 8_ **

"Alright everybody, let's take it from the top. Page three, act one, scene one." Michael the show director said waiting for the two lead females to get in place on stage.

"Action."

Chassity stood off to one side, bouncing on her toes and looking eagerly around, fidgeting as she waited for something.

Sarah started waddling forward as if she were weighted down by a great weight. Chassity rushed toward her squealing.

"  **Kathryn!** Oh, it's so GOOD to see you!" Chassity tackle hugged Sarah, who pretended to lose her balance and almost fall over as she let out a strangled cry. Chassity grabbed at her pulling her upright and took some of the imaginary lugged.

"Here, let me take some of that. Oooow, I'm just sooooo excited to have you staying with us! We'll be sharing a room and we'll go to the same school and have the same friends and do each others hair and makeup and nails and it will just all be so much fun!" Chassity rambled as she and Sarah walk over in one direction.

Sarah painted a slightly pained expression on her face as she followed her chatty blonde 'cousin'.

"It's good to see you too, Val, but I thought I was staying in the guest bedroom? Or, you know, the attic. Either one works for me."

"Oooooh, originally you were, but we had a sewer pipe blow in the wall, and the attic's infested with squirrels and spiders!"

Sarah shuddered.

"On second thought, sharing a room for a bit doesn't seem that bad…" Sarah glanced into the distance and started.

"What the cra… Valerie, there's a dude on that roof!"

Chassity turned.

"Huh? Where?" She glanced at Sarah, then back. "I don't see anything, Cuz. You must be really tired from all that travel. Come on let's get you back to the house, I've got your bed all ready, you can go take a nap there."

Sarah opened her mouth again to respond and glanced back, then closed it with a snap and just kinda stare off. Slowly shaking her head, she turned back to the other girl and nodded. When her back was turned Sarah said in a loud mutter;

"Well, now,  **that** was clique…"

"Cut!" Mike called "Good job ladies. Sarah, good work with the expressions, but don't worry so much about the 'baggage' just yet. We'll have the probs later on with actual weight for you to practice with. Chas, don't worry about hurting Sarah so much. She's a big girl and I'm pretty sure she could take on James, let alone having a little thing like you tackling her. Just go for it, k?" James laughed his agreement as Sarah gave him a wink and thumbs up and Chassity nodded to Mike.

"Sorry, just didn't want to accidentally hurt her or anything." She said with an apologetic smile. Robert laughed then too.

"Hurt her? I think you'd have a better chance by going for her kneecaps!" Chassity stuck her tongue out at him and they all laughed. She was the shortest member of the cast at 5'6 and already she got teased mercilessly about it. Mike called everyone back to attention and had them run the scene again.

They ran it three more times before Mike called it a night. They all said goodbye to one another and wished each other a happy Thanksgiving. Sarah made her way out one of the back doors smiling. She was genuinely enjoying being around the rest of the cast, which was rare for her. For some reason, she generally just didn't get along well with other humans.

**_"Well maybe not just 'some reason'..."_** Sarah mused as she traipsed down one of her beloved side paths, dark save for the occasional gilded lamp post. Humans were just so... normal. They held plain practical views of everything, and only believed in what they could see and 'prove'.

Frankly, to one who had seen a whole nother world and interacted with magic, they seemed small minded.

Sarah took a deep breath of the cool fall night air. She enjoyed the way it nipped at her lungs. She also enjoyed the peacefulness of finally being alone. She had early on forbidden the goblins all from coming anywhere near her shows. Painful experience had taught her that their mayhem did not mix well with the theater.

Sarah gazed up at the stars. They were out clear tonight, carpeting the sky in the absence of the moon. Easily seen through the thinned trees. It was a stunning, but it almost made her sad.

It was beautiful, but it reminded her that she didn't have anyone to share it with. Sarah might be ok with being single, but to be honest, she wanted someone to 'do life' with.

Sarah winced as images of children ran around her head. Ok, maybe she wasn't ready for marriage yet, but still. She was ready for something.

As if on cue, a dark voice came from out of the darkness.

"A little late for a stroll, mortal." A figure moved in the shadows. Or rather, the shadows moved around the figure. Ancient Magic crept along the ground, and a sense of danger permeated the air.

"You really shouldn't be all alone in the dark. It would be... unfortunate... if the mighty Champion were to run afoul with some creature of the night."

Sarah shot the speaker a flat look.

"Your entrances need work, Raeth. Hollywood called. They're suing for cliche infringement."

The purple-eyed Othånas stepped out into the relative light of the path, giving her an amused but nonplussed look.

"I have no idea what you're saying, human."

Sarah smiled wickedly at him, then turned to walk further down the path.

"That's the idea."

With the recent arrival of more Greater Goblins in her life, most in the form of 'messengers', Sarah had started taking a twisted joy out of confounding them with her human references. The results she got were varying and hilarious.

Raeth rolled his eyes and fell in step beside her.

"Are you not curious as to what I've brought with me this time?"

Sarah stopped, swiveled around to him with her hands clasped in front and started jumping up and down on her toes.

"Oooo, what did you bring me, what did you bring me!?" She squealed in a high childlike voice, eyes as big as the moon and a cherubic look plastered all over her face.

Without missing a beat, Raeth pulled a  **peach** out of thin air.

"For you, little one" He cooed with his best attempt at a sincere smile.

Sarah's face dropped and she cast him a flat look as she turned to walk away again.

"Ass."

His laughter followed her into the night as he let her walk further away. He seemed to like to tease her about two things: her height and eversion to Goblin fruit. Which made perfect sense, seeing as what it did to mortals such as herself! After coming back with a burning curiosity about the world below, Sarah had done some research and realized just how close she had come to never coming home at all.

Just when he was out of earshot, he popped back into existence right in front of her, walking backward as he presented her with the offending fruit.

"But wait, m'lady!" Before her eyes, the peach transformed into a small note.

"From His Majesty." He presented with an awfully self-satisfied smile.

Sarah regarded him with a cool look for long moments that left the immortal inexplicably fighting not to squirm. Then she continued around him, plucked the note from his hand without looking and placing it in her pocket.

If there was one thing a goblin couldn't stand, it was being ignored. The lesser were known to go to extreme lengths if she decided to give them the silent treatment. She could practically feel Raeth's churning.

Briefly, she considered the wisdom of taunting an ancient and predatory being such as him, before dismissing it with a mental wave.

Never let it be said that Sarah Williams backed down from a challenge.

She felt Raeth draw up beside her, keeping pace as she walked toward her dorm, but continued to stoutly ignore him.

They had met shortly after Sarah had gifted His Highness with the means to route their intel network. Needless to say, he had not been very happy. He and Gaethin had popped up inside her apartment to make their displeasure with her known, only to be greeted with the awe-inspiring righteous hellfire fury that was a violated Sarah William. If they had thought her temper had evaporated with age, they were very-  **very-** wrong.

She had told them in no plain terms that if they wanted entrance to her private abode they could very well KNOCK LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE AND WAIT FOR PERMISSION BEFORE ENTERING and WHO DID THEY THINK THEY WERE TO JUST COME INTO HER HOME UNINVITED?!

Gaethin then made the mistake of answering that they were the king's own advisors and members of his personal circle.

Sarah had asked how the intelligence network was faring of late in a cool, normal voice so juxtaposed from her earlier fiery demeanor that both males were left feeling a bit of mental whiplash (and they had dealt with the ladies at court, fae and goblin).

The poor males had just stood there looking at her for a second before Raeth responded in kind that the network seemed to be dying from a rotten sweet tooth and they were wondering if she knew anything about it? Sarah had disavowed any knowledge of what could  **possibly** cause such a tragic end to such a well-organized regime, and did they want any tea or cookies since they were already here, because she'd hate to send them away again so empty handed!

Where Gaethin looked like he wanted to strangle her, Reath had picked up on the game and parried blow for blow, saying he'd love some tea, but did she have any fruit instead because he had a sudden inexplicable craving for peaches. Thus began the highly sarcastic banter which dominated their conversations whenever he came Above with massages from the King.

She glanced over at the dark haired male next to her. He also had one of those infamous goblin hairstyles. It was short and spiky in the front, with a long low ponytail caught up in the back. She hid a smirk. Every Othånas she had met was very proud of their hair.

She thought back to His Majesty's own hairstyle. Sarah cast another look at Raeth. Fall Break was coming up, and it was time…

Sarah pulled a prettily bundled bunch of what looked for all the world a flowering weed from nowhere and handed it to Raeth without looking.

"For His Majesty."

Raeth took it, abandoning his earlier scheme to punish her for ignoring him in favor of figuring out what hell was in his hand.

"Why don't you give it to him yourself?" He asked staring down at the bundle, unable to decipher the species.

**_"Bother."_** The male thought.

Sarah shot him a look.

"I still haven't figured out how to 'poof' from place to place up here, let alone try and make a trip to the Underground and back."

Raeth ignored her annoying choice of the word 'poof' and glanced up to give her a wickedly amused smirk.

"I doubt you will find much trouble in getting Down Below."

Sarah cast him a dubious side eye.

"See, it the getting back  **Up** I'm concerned with."

The Othånas only chucked.

They walked in silence for a bit, taking in the chill air. Sarah finally spoke again.

"Thanksgiving break is coming up. This week, actually."

"Indeed? Will you be spending it with your family?"

"Yup. Leaving for home tomorrow."

The conversation passed again, Raeth waiting for her to get to what she actually wanted to say.

"I'm excited to go back. I miss it a lot." Sarah cast him another covert look that he didn't miss. "Especially the park."

Raeth nodded, but said nothing. He looked at her to finish her thought.

"And it might be nice to see friends." She gave him a meaningful look. "New and old."

Surprise splashed over the greater goblins face as her meaning occurred to him. A wicked grin spread across his face as he glanced down at the plant in his hand before nodded to her again.

"Understood, my Lady. If you will excuse me, I believe I have a bouquet to deliver."

Sarah opened her mouth to scold him for the use of her title, but he was already gone. The only evidence of his existence were the flecks of glitter like magic floating down, and the uneasy feeling of something foreign and dangerous leftover in the area.

~~~~~J/S~~~~~

Raeth reappeared in the Castle Beyond the Goblin City, in a new avian tower Jareth brought up for the heck of it. Stepping up to the monarch in question, who looked to be back from a recent flight, he handed off the precious message.

Jareth's eyes lit up and a smile curled its way across his sharp features. The tiny flowers in his hand bloomed that much brighter under the monarch's pleasure.

Chickweed.

**'Rendezvous'**

* * *

 

_ Author's notes:  _ _ So what did you guys think?! Their final going to meet up! Was Jareth right, or was Jareth right (about the whole let her come on her own thing)? _

_ Alright, real question time: I wanted to create this constant feeling of slight unease around the Othånas, similar to what Sarah would be feeling around them. I know as a reader often times I can forget the nature of the being I'm reading about in the playful banter, and I didn't want that to happen here. The Othånas are big, scary and Dangerous. Their not to be trifled with or taken lightly. No matter how much they interact in the Above, Sarah is still human and is still going to have instinctual reactions around the Othånas. It's supposed to help to make Sarah's interactions and accomplishments among them even more profound and powerful.  _

_ Do you think I'm doing a good job of getting that across? Got any tips or pointers for me? Please, let me know! That kind of insight is  _ **_worth_ ** _ dwarvish gold! Glitter and Flowers for all! _

_ -Wild-is-good _

_ (PS: I actually have an entire play plotted out to use for this story. The question is: Do you guys want to actually see it, or would you rather focus more on S/J? let me know.) _


	10. Chapter 10

_ **Chapter 9** _

 

Sarah shivered a bit at the change of air as she stepped out of her car and into the chilly air surrounding her childhood home. She had all of five seconds to bask in the nostalgia of the crisp autumn breeze before two furry shapes barreled into her with the combined force of a freight train. Merlin and Toby clung to her, both yipping in joy.

 

Sarah laughed, hugging both dog and boy happily before extracting herself from their death grip. 

 

“Wow, Toby! For a second there I couldn’t tell who was the dog and who was the boy!” Sarah teased, ruffling her little brothers mop of curly blond hair. 

 

The six-year-old beamed up at her. “Mom says the same thing!” 

 

Sarah narrowed her eyes at him playfully. “Then maybe you should do something about it, champ.”

 

“Never!!!!” The child squealed throwing his arms up into the air and running around his sister in circles, to the dismay of a slightly exhausted looking Karen. Sarah smiled and laughed, before kneeling to love on her puppy. Merlin wuffled, burying his nose in her chest as his mistress spoiled him with affection. 

 

Karen crossed the yard to her kneeling step-daughter, watching her son run around in hyper-spastic circles chanting “Never” at the top of his lounges. The two women shared a look, before Karen sighed in defeat. 

 

“I don’t know where he gets stuff like that from.” The older of the two women said shaking her head. 

 

Sarah knew exactly where he got it, seeing as how her brother's favorite playmates were goblins, but choose not to voice this and instead rose to hug her mother figure.

 

“He’s just a kid, they don’t have to get it from anywhere.” Sarah said conversationally as she pulled away. 

 

Karen gave her a slightly pained look before looking at her son and sighing in defeat again. “I just hope he grows out of it soon. I don’t know how much more of this insanity I can take.”

 

**_‘Don’t hold your breath’_ ** was all Sarah could think, but she said “Put him in sports. Give him some way to burn off all that extra energy.”

 

Karen gave her another exasperated look. “He says he wants to learn how use a sword! I’ve tried to see if he wanted to do any normal sports like baseball or soccer but he refuses to do anything like that, saying that he only wants to learn sword fighting.” 

 

Sarah gave her a sympathetic smile while mentally noteing to convince Didymus to teach Toby swordplay for Christmas. To Karen she said “Have him join martial arts. The y teach stuff like that,” at Karens horrified look Sarah swiftly finished “but not for a long time! He would learn how to defend himself in a controlled environment that burns off all that extra energy.” 

 

Karen looked slightly less horrified and considered it for a moment. “Hmm, maybe…” She trailed off as Merlin interrupted them with a bark, deciding that it was time he got his mistress's attention back. 

 

Sarah smiled and pet him even as Karen made another sound of exasperation. 

 

“I swear it’s like he knew you were coming, he and Toby been bouncing around under foot all week.” The older Williams women gave the dog a disparaging look. “I had to chase him off the couch in the front room more than once today and he’s been whining at the front door since this morning!” 

 

The dog in question looked completely unrepentant under Karen’s scathing looks, instead gazing up devotedly at his long-lost mistress. Sarah hid her smile from Karen and loved on he favorite pooch some more, kissing him on the nose before stepping inside the old Victorian house. 

 

Sarah barely side stepped in time as Toby came screaming through chasing Quck, (who had decided to ride in the car with her), around the house. 

 

Karen went after him, trying in vain to calm the calamity that was Tobias Williams before he destroyed any more furniture. As the little boy equivalent of a hurricane ran up the stairs he was scooped up by his father who had been drawn out of his study by the ruckus. 

 

“Sarah, you’re home!” The eldest Williams man said, beaming down at his beloved daughter. He walked down the flight of stairs, reminding Toby that running in the house was against the rules before setting him down and squeezing Sarah in a daddy hug. 

 

“How’s school, hun?” The man asked, releasing her.

 

“Good, daddy! I’ve made some interesting friends this year.”  

 

Robert gave his daughter a probing look. Reading it, Sarah laughed.

 

“None of  _ that  _ kind of interesting, daddy.” 

 

Karen piped up just then.

 

“Not that it would be a problem, Sweetie!” She shot her husband a quitting look. “You should have dates at you age. We wouldn’t mind at all if you brought someone home for Christmas.”

 

The look on Mr. Williams face clearly said that he disagreed, but the man wisely kept his mouth shut. Sarah smiled sympathetically at her father. Karen looked at them both in exasperation. Robert quickly spoke up to defuse the situation.

 

“Sarah dear, why don’t you go put your things up in the guest bedroom?”

 

Sarah smiled and pecked him on the cheek. “Sure thing, Dad.”

 

~~~~~~~J/S~~~~~~~

 

At six o'clock that Thursday, the Williams and the Dossin( Karen’s side of the family)men lay splayed out on the family room floor, groaning at their overly full bellies while their smug wives looked on. Even Toby looked a little sluggish as he sat playing with his toy men. Aunt Kathy and Karen exchanged  self-congratulatory looks at the state of their husbands. 

 

Sarah stood in the archway, leaning cross-legged on the wall and feeling pleasantly full herself as she watched the family thanksgiving after dinner scene play itself out.  She, of course, had nothing to do with this sport like ritual, as she had been banned from the kitchen by family consensus for every major holiday since age 17. 

 

After her go through the Labyrinth she had tried to be more active with her adopted families life, but while the sentiment was appreciated, they had all soon come to the decision that she was beyond hope of teaching when it came to all matters cooking.

 

Kornof and Merlin stood next to her knee, looking a little dazed themselves. Her aunts and cousins made a point to spoil Merlin with dropped treats as they made the food in the kitchen, and Kornof was more than happy to help him eat them all. 

 

Sarah watched as her family happily poked and teased each other, altogether thankful to be here with them. The distant memory of wishing for someone to take her away rung in the back of her mind, making her mentally wince.

 

**_“I fall to see what a Goblin King would find so attractive about a child like that. I was a brat.”_ **

 

Sarah mentally shrugged her shoulders, there was no accounting for an Othanas taste. 

 

“ _ Speaking of taste...” _

 

Sarah carefully snuck into the kitchen and filled up one great big plate full of delicious leftover. Coming back to the corner, she held up two strips of turkey to get Kornof’s and Merlin’s attention. 

 

“Go jump on Uncle Gilbert to make a distraction, kay?” She whispered. The dog woffled in agreement, but at the altogether too happy look on the goblin’s face she added hastily “And don’t hurt anybody!” Looking a little disappointed, Kornof nodded before both raced back into the family room and jumped on the poor bloated man's stomach, licking his face and generally causing a ruckus. 

 

In the mitsed of the noisy confusion, Sarah slipped quietly upstairs and into the safety of her old room, locking the door behind her. Setting the food down, she walked in front of the new full-length mirror Karen had put in. Karen had completely redone the room after Sarah left for college. Before the Labyrinth the very idea of it changing would have given Sarah fits, but now she could sit back and admire the decorating skills of her adoptive mother.

 

“Guy’s, I’ve got something for you!” 

 

In the mirror, three comforting faces materialized.

 

“My Lady, what is that delicious smell?!” Didymus asked taking a good long whiff of the air. Despite his seeming immunity to the Bog, the small knight really did have a fantastic sense of smell. Sarah smiled.

 

“Why don’t the three of you come through and find out?” she encouraged.

 

Her friends came through the mirror one by one, Ludo giving her a big hug as soon as he made it to her side. She hugged him back joyfully before handing him a large drumstick from the plate. Ludo hummed his thanks and pleasure before digging into the treat. 

 

Sarah would be lying if she said it hadn’t surprised her when she found out that Ludo was a scavenger carnivore or that it hadn’t made her feel a little uncomfortable. But, she had quickly gotten over it for the sake of her sweet furry friend.

 

As she served Didymus his portion, Hoggle gave the food a suspicious side-eye.

 

“Ya didn’t cook any of it, right Sarah?” He asked, squinting at her.

 

Sarah stuck out her tongue handing him his portion of the plate. 

 

“No, you know as well as I do that I’ve been banned from the kitchen for years.” 

 

Hoggle made an exaggerated sound of relief as accepted his plate. 

 

“Good, justs checkin!” 

 

Hoggle had tried her cooking ones and had teasingly swore she was trying to poison him in revenge for delivering Jareth's peach. 

 

“ ‘is iz good!” the dwarf said through a mouth half full of casserole. 

 

“Friend Hoggle! Manners! Don’t speak with your mouth full!” Didymus scolded. Ludo lowed in agreement, but it came out a bit muffled because his mouth was full too.

 

Hoggle scoffed at the knight, waving him off as he continued to stuff his face.

 

Sarah reclined back on the bed, contentedly watching her friends’ antics. Her thoughts drifted with her eyes as she gazed out the window to the colorful autumn outside. She watched Ludo happily crunching away at the bone of the drum stick in the reflection. 

 

Her gaze drifted past the reflection in the window to the houses and trees outside. 

 

She would also be lying if she said she wasn’t scared to see Jar- the Goblin King soon. A fact she had  _ again _ neglected to tell Hoggle. 

 

“So, Sarah. Whens you meetin’ up with the Rat?” 

 

Sarah startled, head whipping around to meet her grouchiest friend’s eyes.

 

“Indeed, my Lady! When do you plan on seeing the King? He is most eager to see you again!” Didymus piped up, his eyes sparkling. Ludo turned to look at her curiously as well, still chewing the bone in his mouth.

 

Sarah just looked at them started for a moment.

 

Then smiled defeatedly. 

 

“I can’t keep anything from you guys, can I?”

 

Hoggle pinned her with a hard look.

 

“We’res your friends, Sarah. You shouldn’t want to.”

 

Didymus nodded.“Indeed, my lady. How can we assist you as good friends should if you do not come to us?”

 

Sarah felt like hanging her head in shame. They were right. 

 

“I’m sorry guys,” She said in a contrite voice, “ Your right.”

 

Hoggle sniffed. “Course we are.” 

 

Sarah smiled at her friends’ backward way of saying I forgive you.

 

“I was planning on heading out after dessert. I’ll take Merlin with me as cover.” 

 

They all nodded at her.

 

“Remember-” Didymus started

 

“If Sawah needs frwends-” Ludo lowed gently.

 

“For  **_any_ ** reason at all-” Hoggle went on emphatically.

 

“I’ll call.” Sarah finished with a smile. “Thanks, guys.” 

 

The three inhabitants of the Underground smiled back at her, content to know their friend would do as she said.

 

~~~~~J/S~~~~~

Merlin contentedly trotted at Sarah’s side as the two of them meandered through the park. It had been a full year since she had last been here, and the pleasant feeling of nostalgia trickled down around her.

 

She had spent the better part of her childhood in this park. Wet sparkling springs, hunting fairies, and toadstools. Long summer days spent taming dragons and rescuing princesses. Cool windy autumn questing for hobgoblin in the leaf litter. Chilling white winters battling snow monsters on the ice. 

 

Sarah smiled longingly as Merlin left her side to play in the piles of leaves some poor overworked gardener raked together. 

 

She glanced left and right with a sly expression before diving right in after him. 

 

Both girl and dog breached the cover of the leaves in a spray of cracklings colors. They splashed around the leaf litter laughing and barking for a minute before Sarah decided that both herself and her pup were adequately dirty for a meeting with foreign royalty and had better stop while they were ahead. Merlin shook himself off, getting rid of the worst of the evidence on himself, but Sarah was less than satisfied.

 

With a mischievous grin she muttered a spell, waving a hand first at herself, then her pup. Merlin jumped and yelped as the foreign sensation of magic remove any trace of their early action.

 

“I saw that.” Came an amused, silken baraton from behind her.

 

Sarah whirled to see the Goblin King, leaning preditorialy against a tree less than five feet away from her. She fought to keep the look of calm friendliness in place as a shiver of instinctual fear slithered its way down her back.

 

She belatedly realized that her interaction with other Othanos had  _ not _ prepared her to deal with their king. 

 

She had expected to be able to say he was exactly like she remembered.

 

She was wrong.

 

Memory had toned down his image into one acceptable to the human mind. The Goblin King was anything but. 

 

He radiated power. Lithe, ethereal power. The kind that moved stars and time with impunity. His magic seemed an actual presence in the air, swirling and churning. She could see it, in her mind's eye, could sense it,  **_feel_ ** it around her. It almost felt like it was bubbling up, pushing against the fabric of the visible, just this side of being  _ seen _ . It made the world around her warp the way hot air or steam did. 

 

As for the… ‘man’… himself…. 

 

He looked like sex. Personified.

 

His hair was different. It was still wild, to be sure, but now it was cut much closer to his head. He had two long strands left, flowing down to rest some inches below his clavicle. The newly shortened hair still seemed to fly in the face of gravity, however. 

 

They exposed his ears, sharp and pointed. They matched his smile. He had fangs, grinning out at her from a smile that reminded her of exactly what he wasn’t; Human 

 

**_‘Did all the goblins have teeth that sharp?’_ **

 

He had markings on his face. She had at first mistook them for makeup, until she had been thoroughly corrected after their encounter in the tunnels. Soft white covered his eyelids, dark streaks coming up from the corners of his eyes to come just shy of meeting his upswept brows.

 

His outfit caught her attention for a fleeting moment, but it was enough to make her knees beg to be allowed to buckle. 

 

**_‘Absolutely NOT!’_ **

 

_ ‘But please! Come on, we’re only human, do you  _ **_See_ ** _ those pants?!’ _

 

**_“Sarah Williams don’t you DARE let him see you sweat! You are an actress, bog-damn it, you will not be reduced to this!”_ **

 

He wore dark colors head to toe. He had on a similar outfit to the one he wore in the tunnels, save this one had a black overcoat. The dark silver poet shirt he had on underneath it gaped open carelessly revealing toned skin. 

 

Was he glowing? Or was that just her mind trying to make sense of the swirl, maddening presence of his magic? She quickly tore he gaze away from his chest, meeting his eyes. 

 

Which was a mistake.

 

His eyes were…. terrible. They were two toned jewels. Not because of their color, but because of their  _ depth _ . They held millennia after millennia in them, refracting and bouncing them back out the same way a cut diamond did. Knowledge, cunning and age seemed to swirl behind the silted irises. Power, physical, social and magical seemed to flow from them, taking the form of wisps of light in the dark shade of the trees he stood under. 

 

It was terrible. They made her feel small and weak. Insubstantial.

 

She remembered now why she had been so afraid of him. Why the thought of sending him those first flowers had nearly stopped her heart. Why she had never faulted Hoggle for his confession. 

 

_ “I’m a coward, and Jareth  _ **scares** **_me_ ** _.”  _

 

Merlin was whimpering behind her, initially knowing the danger that the predator before them posed. 

 

All this she took in in the course of three long seconds, but then again that was all the time she needed to come to her conclusion. Her palms grew damp, and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end.

 

**Jareth, King the Goblin, was _terrifying._**

* * *

  _Authors notes: Mwahaha, suffer my lovelies! Don't worry, you'll get yo see Jareth's side of things next chapter. Tell me your thoughts!_

 

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

_Authors Note's: Hello my lovelies! Welcome back! Thanks for reading and staying up with this story, especially those of you who, like me, don't read fics till their completed._

_Ok, so **VERY IMPORTANT HEADS UP: TRIGGER WARNING!**_

_Ok, now that I've got your attention, just so you know, there is violence in this chapter, and its an insy bit gory. It's near the end of the chapter. If you want to avoid it skip down after [_ " **D** on't **K** ill **H** im." _] to [_ Sarah felt her stomach claw its way up her esophagus. _] I'm underlining both to make it easier to see, without disrupting the flow of the story for everyone else._

_Credit to whom credit is due_

_I own nothing but my fascination with flowers and glittery blonde males_

_-Wild-is-good_

* * *

Holy Maker of the Heavens she was _beautiful_.

This was the creature he had been so playfully corresponding with these last few months? This was the being he had been barred from for fourteen seasons?

No.

Never. Again.

His will was as strong as hers, his kingdom as great, and by the bog, he'd be **damned** from the Underground before he allowed himself to lose her a second time.

No more tricks and Labyrinths.

Just good old-fashioned courtship. And Seduction.

Lots of seduction…

Her mouth formed a little 'o' in surprise before she greeted him with a warm, placid smile, her eyes merely taking him in for a few short seconds. He allowed himself the same favor, and felt his mouth water.

She was stunning.

Far surpassing the promised beauty he had last seen budding in her adolescent face; Her body had grown taller, curvier, and her countenance that much more proud. Where once was the insecurity of a neglected youth, manifested in bravado and temper-tantrums, was the self-assurance of a young woman, manifested in blazing defiant eyes and a refusal to be only ordinary.

It hit him just how much she had grown. The child he had once thought to make his ward now stood before him a woman he was staunchly determined to make his queen.

He gave a doleful smile.

"Some poor custodian went to all the trouble of making that pile, and you've gone and messed it up. For shame, Precious." He asked at her stepping forward out of the shadows and crossing the distance to her.

"If they didn't want people jumping in it, they wouldn't have left it lying around." Sarah shrugged, playfully smiling up at him.

"Hmmm, " he hummed out, reaching a hand up to plucking a leaf from her ebony hair. He twirled it before her with a bit of a smirk stealing up one corner of his mouth. His love gave him a knowing look.

"You put that there." She stated.

"Perhaps." He intoned with a dark chuckle, eyes never leaving hers.

 _ **"Such lovely green things."**_ He thought affectionately

 _"Imagine how much more so they'd be shining with lust."_ call a small, devious voice from the back of his mind.

He allowed himself a darker smile.

~~~J/S~~~

Oh dear God his _smile_.

Jareth dropped his hand with the false leaf before taking one of hers. Never breaking eye contact, he raised it to his lips, and with mischievous eyes, placed a slow, gentle kiss on the back of her hand.

Her legs begged for mercy.

_"Can we PLEASE buckle **now!?** "_

Sarah didn't bother with a response, because she was too busy trying to figure out **_exactly how one was supposed to respond to something like that?!_ Because, really THAT WASN'T FAIR!**

What was she supposed to do now?

Tingles were shooting up her arm and into her stomach and her hand was informing her that it had never felt sensation like this before and it wasn't sure what they were but her hormones said they were very good and it kinda felt like her brain had just short-circuited and _OH Holy Crap She SHould NOT be This Turned on AND HOW THE HELL DID ONE RESPOND TO THISS and…_

Sarah managed to keep most of the blush off her face and remained standing as the Goblin King rose over her hand with a warm smile.

"It is good to see you again, my dear."

Sarah mentally breathed a sigh of relief as a solution presented itself: ignore the kiss.

She smiled warmly back at the male before her and reminded herself that this was the person she had come to think of as a friend over the last few months through letters. She returned his sentiment.

"It is good to see you, too, Your Highness. It gives me great joy that you agreed to meet with me," she paused, giving him her own mischievous smile "particularly at such a trying time for your highness."

Jareth rolled his eyes at her, dropping her hand with a feigned look of disgust.

In his last letter, he had detailed for her the incredibly annoying and dull Saihiam, Changing-of-the-Season, and Use-whatever-excuse-we-can-to-party-because-we're-Fae Banquets he had been 'forced' to endure with the other dignitaries of the Underground per tradition. Despite the fact that he was currently at war with at least third of the attendees, he and his court were socially expected to go and make nice or else lose face.

It had been a nightmare of social niceties, intrigue, spies, subtle assassination attempts, verbal sparring matches with less than adequate opponents, keeping his generals from strangling said opponents, policing younger Othånas from inciting more incidents and enduring the unwanted attention from females looking for a crown that always came with these sort of gatherings. That, on top of the war itself and dealing with the remnants of Raeth and Gaethin's intelligence network, things of late had been hectic.

"Perhaps for the next, Precious one, I shall take you with me." He threatened pleasantly.

"So as not to have to suffer alone?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

He gave a look of moral offense, a hand quickly flying to his, _(only partly covered)_ , breast.

"My daring Champion, no evening spent in your company could ever be considered a 'suffering'." His dark chocolate voice rumbled with utmost 'sincerity', though his eye twinkled in such a way as to affirm her claim. With a sweeping bow Jareth then pulled a hand from behind his back and presented her with a wild looking bouquet of flowers.

"How generous of you." Sarah responded, attempting and failing not to smirk as she accepted the flowers.

"And how beautiful." She said with a small real smile, delicately sniffing the arrangement in her hand as she gently stroked one of the petals.

While Sarah was looking away, she missed the look of affectionate tenderness that briefly stole through the Goblin King's eyes as he watched her inspect his gift.

Merlin chose that moment to make his presence known again with a soft wuffle.

Sarah left of trying to decipher the hidden message temporarily in favor of introducing her loyal companion of so many years to the king before her. She reached down to ruffle the top Merlin's head with a reassuring smile.

"Your Highness, please allow me to introduce Merlin." She looked back down to her pooch, "Merlin, say hi to His Majesty."

"Please, Love," the king said to her, even as he sunk down gracefully next to her dog, "call me Jareth." He looked up at her with hooded eyes and a smug smile, "Or would you like for me to address you as My Lady, as well?"

"No, that will be _quite_ fine!" She rushed. Apparently, word has reached him how much she _detested_ the use of her 'title'. The Lord of the Labyrinth smirked knowing before presenting his hand to her dog.

Merlin growled a little from behind Sarah's leg before looking up at her with a whimper. She shoosed her pup comfortingly.

"It's ok, Buddy, he's a friend." The dog seemed less than convinced but bravery put his nose out anyways to sniff the awaiting gloved hand.

"It might be better if you take off the glove, your maj-" She stopped caught herself and took a breath. "Jareth."

The kneeling male looked up at her with hooded eyes and a dangerous triumphant smile that made her heart temporarily stop.

_**"** Oh lord, did I just do something wrong?!" _

Holding her gaze captive in his terrible eyes he brought the hand to his mouth and **bit** the top of the glove. With a knowing smile and bedroom eyes, he slowly pulled the glove free from his hand.

 ** _"Oh Nelly…"_** her stomach tingled pleasantly and her knees were begging again.

_**"No, you do NOT have permission to buckle!"** _

Sarah responded by cocking an eyebrow and making an unimpressed _'_ _Really? Was that entirely necessary?'_ face.

The goblin before her chuckled before returning his attentions to winning the favor of his beloved's pet. Sarah returned her attention to the flowers in her hand.

This one was a wild looking spray of mostly purple flowers, with white and yellow thrown in here and there. Much like the first real bouquet which Jareth had had specially delivered to her, this one also had leafy fronds of some kind, with flower buds that seemed to be in the process of blooming.

 _ **"Hmm, that's odd?"**_ Sarah elected to ignore those for now and went about cataloging the flowers.

_**"The white ones are Gardenias… "** _

_**"The yellow ones Gorse…"** _

Iris…

Heliotrope…

Everlasting pea…

Sarah's brows furrowed as she tried to puzzle through the possible mean of the bunch.

While his love was distracted the Goblin King was not having a good time of convincing her pooch that he was 'good people'.

Even after tentatively sniffing his ungloved hand, the dog was having none of him. This made sense, seeing as how it had grown up entirely around humans and not wasn't use to his… otherness. However, Jareth was well aware that it wasn't helpful in his pursuit of the female before him to be unliked by her animal.

Jareth flicked his eyes up to Sarah briefly, enjoying the adorably concentrated look on her face, before turning his wrist expertly to produce a hunk of juicy raw meat. He proffered it to the shaggy beast again. The dog sniffed him with renewed interest. Deciding that the meat at least was good, the dog quickly scarfed it down. Finding that the meat was _very_ good, the dog came around his mistress legs completely and snuffled around for more treats.

Jareth smiled in victory and making sure his bribery wasn't caught, gave the dog more. He stroked the beast's head affectionately. It was a good thing 'Merlin' had decided to like him, seeing how Jareth had just made the dog immortal. Nifty little spell tucked into the meat so as to make it harder to track for a new magic user.

It would be quite awkward to spend eternity with his precious Queen's pet constantly at odds with himself.

Sarah, oblivious to the trickery going on at her feet or her beloved pup's new-found immortal status, was still working her way through the flowers. This one was difficult, as most of the flowers used had several different meanings. The boughs had bloomed into what she recognised as apple blossoms, which meant _**'Preference**_ _ **'**_ , _**'Fame speaks him great and good'**_ , ' _ **I prefer you'**_ , but they were already starting to wilt a little, and they didn't make any sense with the other flowers…

Gardenia meant _**'Transport'**_ or _**'**_ _ **You're Lovely'**_.

Gorse meant _**'Endearing affection'**_ or _**'Our** **Friendship is enduring'**_.

Heliotrope meant _**'I adore you**_ _ **'**_ and ** _'Devotion_** ** _'_**.

Everlasting Pea was _**'Wilt thou go with me?'**_ , _ **'Lasting pleasure'**_ and _**'Go not away'**_.

And Iris meant _**'I have a message for you'**_ , _**'Your friendship means so much to me'**_ , _**'Hope'**_ or _**'**_ _ **My Compliments'**_.

The heck?

Ignoring the apple blossoms, it almost seemed like there were two different messages to take away. One was a flirty "Ready to go Below?" and the other was something like "It is good to see you friend."

Then the apple blossoms caught her attention again. As she watched, the blossoms shrank away, leaving tiny shiny red apples in their wake.

Sarah bit off a laugh. His Majesty was a cheeky bastard!

Apples meant _**'Temptation'**_ , **_'Let me Tempt you'_** or _**'Give in to Temptation.'**_

He was asking her if she would allow him to tempt her to come with him Underground while simultaneously declaring how much he enjoyed their friendship.

 _ **"If you turn it this way, it's a very nice sentiment. But if you turn it that…."**_ Sarah shook her head with a smile.

 _"You know, he seems very keen to get you Below."_ A voice in the back of her head commented.

 _"And with those looks he's been giving you since he got here… mmmh so yummy,... and that thing with the glove and the kiss-"_ Sarah hormones popped up right before she brutally smashed them down.

 _"_ It almost as if he wants to get you in the royal bedroom and shag you senseless." The other voice finished.

Mental Sarah was left gaping like a fish on dry land as the voice sipped imaginary tea with a "but that none of my business" vibe.

_**"WTF?! What t-"** _

_"Really, Sarah, you're a grown women. I think you can curse aloud in you hea-"_

**_"That's enough out of you!"_** Sarah thought viciously as she trampled down that voice too. Sometimes it did not pay to feed your overactive imagination too much. She found that it tended to get mouthy.

And racy.

 _ **"I wonder what that says about me…"**_ Sarah thought with mild concern. She ripped herself away from her head and focused back on reality, hoping against hope that she hadn't displayed her thoughts on her face. She shifted her gaze to the Goblin King as he rose from his crouch examining her face, Merlin happily panting at his feet.

If the look on his face was anything to go by, Sarah thought she was in the safe. Because she had such a naturally expressive face, she had done her best to try and create a neutral one of when she wasn't intentionally using it, but it was kind of difficult to ascertain how successful she was at it.

"Penny for your thoughts, love?" Jareth asked, waving a newly regloved hand to the flowers.

Sarah smirked scornfully at him.

"They are very lovely Your Highness. In fact I was just thinking that I ought to return the favor." Sarah grinned as she waved her free hand and pulled a posy of flowers out of thin air. "For you!"

Jareth smirked back at her, before receiving the flowers with all due flare and pomp.

"Why, my humblest gratitude, my Lady, for your thought." He inspected the blooms with a sharp eye.

"You shouldn't have." He stated blandly, giving her a matching look.

Chrysanthemum: _ **'You're a wonderful friend'**_ and Striped Carnation: **_'No'_**

Sarah fought the urge to _giggle_ as she said "But I did! Soooooo glad you like them."

Merlin, picking up on his mistress's giddy mischief barked up at them, weaving around their legs before heading down the path again.

Turning back to bemused king at her side, Sarah gave him her megawatt 'charm-your-socks-off/get-out-of-trouble' smile and gestured after the dog.

"Care to walk with us?" She asked in a sweet, innocent voice.

Sarah expected him to be somewhat exasperated or even to just roll his eyes at her antics. She had long ago come to terms with the fact she got a slightly twisted kick out of annoying the people around her, and had found that not even the mighty Othånas were immune. Even Raeth, her best challenger so far, still had moments where he simply couldn't handle her.

Which is why she was slightly started and a little impressed when Jareth went right along with it, tucking her hand to his elbow declaring:"It would be my absolute **_pleasure,_** precious." He seemed to almost _purr_ the word 'pleasure' in a way that made her think she had just discovered a new species of parasitic butterfly that only hatched in the human stomach.

That, or her hormones had revived from their earlier beating.

 _"Psst: Its the hormones."_ Sarah silenced the voice again.

 _ **"One point to the Goblin King."**_ She begrudgingly thought as she allowed Jareth to lead them up the path after a happily barking Merlin.

"So I was a bit distracted with your pretty little riddle,- the apples were a clever touch by the way- did you and Merlin end up making nice?" Sarah questioned as they meandered down the path. She brought the flowers back up to her face to smell again.

Mhhhm they smelled _good_.

"We did indeed, Precious." Jareth inclined his head. Looking after the dog smiling he continued "I feel we came to a solid understanding of one another."

Just then Merlin came yipping back and nuzzled up to Jareth's knees. The Othånas reached down and scratched the pooch behind the ear with an amused look. An expression of doggy bliss crossed over Merlin's shaggy muzzle.

Sarah beamed with delight.

"That's good to hear! I'd hate to have him growling every time we see you." Sarah commented as they continued up the path.

Jareth shot her a sly side glance.

"Does that mean you wish for the two of you to see me again, Precious?" The goblin male crooned with a dark satisfaction.

Mental Sarah came to a screeching halt, scrambling to inspect every word she had just uttered to make sure she hadn't said anything that could come back to bite her.

_**"Be careful, damn it! Friend or not he is DEFINITELY still looking for a way to regain power over you!"** _

Sarah chose to ignore the fact that she simply accepted Jareth as a friend, faults and all, the same way she had Hoggle. Sarah tended to follow her instincts, which is probably what got her through the Labyrinth, and her instincts told her now as they had then that this time round Jareth was a Friend.

Outwardly she looked at him with sincere eyes.

"Of course. As much fun as it is to write to such an illustrious pen-pal, why wouldn't I want to arrange meetings like this one more often?"

Jareth bit back the majority of a smirk.

_**"Excellent wording there, Precious. Translation: I want to see you again, but on my terms."** _

Or, 'You still have no power over me'.

"I would be delighted to see you more often as well." He conceded gracefully.

They continued to walk through the park as the sun set, talking and flirting and playfully bantering with one another at nosiom. They were both rather delighted to find the other more than capable of keeping up. Jareth found that, surprisingly more often than not, Sarah would initiate the verbal sparring match, challenging him with some witty thrust only to back off and act as if she hadn't made a move at all.

Sarah found Jareth impossibly hard to fluster. He seemed perfectly able to keep up with her twisting logic, rabbit trail paths and sharp conversational corners and was more than capable of producing his own. It was quite fun, actually, and both felt their innate competitiveness thrumming with the excitement.

They were walking through a more forested part park of the park just after the sun had finally sunk down when Jareth caught a movement in the shadows.

Instinct of century as a hated, hunted king Underground alerted him to the threat.

Male. Early in years, probably only late twenties. Armed in such a way that made him feel comfortable with his odds.

He continued to walk Sarah down the path, keeping up their little game with a steady stream of suggestive comebacks to her little prods, but started radiating an aura of predatorial danger in the direction of their would-be assailant.

_'Think carefully before you decide who is the predator here.'_

Sarah didn't miss the change in the atmosphere, observing him to see if she had crossed hidden some line, but was placated when his next comment rang with the same flirty tones as the beginning of the evening.

Merlin had noticed as well that all was not as it should be, placing himself defensively at his mistresses side. Jareth's regard for the creature went up at the show of loyalty.

Sarah could scenes that something was up. Jareth had… tense, somehow. He showed no outward changes, but she could still feel something in the air, something… ominous. It wasn't directed at her, thankfully, but it was there. Merlin had tensed to, sticking close to her side with a canine warriness. Whether it was cause by Jareth or something else, she couldn't be sure.

"Don't move! Put your hands in the air, Goblin, or the bitch gets shot!" A harsh, wet sounding male voice snarled out loudly behind them, followed by the distinct cocking of a gun.

Sarah froze.

" **D** on't **K** ill **H** im." She enunciated in a quiet, forceful tone to the Othånas beside to her.

Jareth sighed.

"Sadly, I'm afraid all other options went out the window the second he _insulted_ you, Love." The Goblin King informed her, full of mock regret.

"Shut it!" The gunman shouted angrily with a whiff of disgruntlement at their backs before the sound of a gunshot range out.

**_"Wait, Sound?"_ **

Time slowed down.

Sarah wiped around wide-eyed to see _two_ bullets in a slow crawl through the air, one headed were her back had been and the other for Jareth.

Their attacker wasn't human. It looked like a human to the untrained eye, a sickly one, hunched and bent over with pale splotchy skin. She had guessed as much by the use of 'goblin'.

 _"A changling"_ her mind told her with no uncertainty.

He was still releasing the pressure of the trigger of the gun as she watched. It was like she was IN a slow-motion scene, with her as the only thing on earth left in real time.

Sarah saw Merlin tensing up to lunge at the gunman. She watched as her assailants face slowly morphed from rage and disdain to confusion as the bullets disintegrated into puffs of dust.

Suddenly things were back in real time. Her head whipped around again when she heard a unearthly _**growl**_ that shook her to the core of her humanity, and she was **much** too slow to catch Jareth's arm before he crossed to the other male in a blur of angry goblin fury.

His gloves were off, displaying wicked looking claws at the end of his fingers, which he raked up the changeling's throat and through his chin with such a speed and force it took her brain a full second to comprehend it. By that time the male was already on the ground gurgling and choking on his own blood, his throat and jaw completely gone.

Without a moment's hesitation Jareth raised one booted foot and brought it down with a cracking crunch on the man's head, flattening it like a rotten piece of fruit.

Sarah felt her stomach claw its way up her esophagus.

It was like experiencing the Labyrinth's 'dangers untold' all over again. The Fierys. The Cleaners. The Humongous. The pit of hands that might have torn her apart if she angered them. The sounds and sense of threat around certain corners, the being chased with swords and guns and spears.

Fairytales aren't all sunshine and roses. The human heroes don't always win. Fairies Bite. Goblins killed.

And she was looking at the scariest of them right now. In fact, she had been playfully flirting with him for the past hour and a half. She had been writing to him with her petty complaints for months now. She had been _reading his letters_ for months now.

She had known it was coming. The second the male had stepped out from behind and threatened them she had **known** Jareth would kill him, but the gory reality of it still left her fighting to breathe properly. Knowing didn't mean she wasn't horrified on some level to see such ruthlessness and cruelty from one she called friend.

_'I can be cruel...'_

She closed her eyes.

"Was the mess _entirely_ necessary?" She said in a weak tone as she opened her eyes again. She found the body gone, and the rest of the evidence of the slaughter quickly fading away.

She looked up to find Jareth's ancient eyes boring into her, with something like a mix of intrigue and... concern? Their shadowy luminescence was hard to read. She noted that his hands were clean now.

"Forgive me, but he had several complex wards I'm sure were _not_ of his own making that prevented my magic from being able to touch him or his gun immediately. The bullet itself had none such warding." A sneer of superior disdain crossed his face. "He cast it from cold iron, filled it with salt and thought it to be enough."

Her whirling upset brain latched onto that for some reason. Anything to stave off the shock.

"It wasn't?" her voice dripped dazed confusion, and though she fought it valiantly, a little bit of desperation.

Jareth regarded her with an unreadable expression."Precious, what incircles my main city?"

A huge mound of trash. Any environmentalist worst nightmare. Her scattering mind turned all of its available will power on that. Why would that matter? How did that answer her question?

Jareth watched the women in front of him with growing concern. He could hear her hearts irregular flutter from where he stood five feet away. Her eyes seemed to be trying to glaze over.

Given their discussions of this evening, solving this one little question should have been embarrassingly easy for her. This little hiccup seemed to have really upset her, but that in itself confused him.

He had watched her battle her way through the Labyrinth and _party_ afterward, what about this was any different…

The changeling had been sent by Ithiavol, of that he was certain. Perhaps it had been promised return to the Underground? The retch seemed stupid enough to believe that possible. It clearly knew next to nothing about the world of the Underground, if it thought iron would harm him- or that it's wards would protect it.

More than likely it had been sent to retrieve Sarah from above as leverage now that she was outside the 'protective zone' of her little college town. Fool that it apparently had been, it thought that it could kill him as well and perhaps earn more regard from its employers. But it also shot at Sarah, which possibly would have killed her too, thus defeating the purpose it had been given.

Jareth felt nothing but disdain for the recently deceased creature.

But why the wards? Ithiavol would know that iron would merely be a nuisance to him, and Jareth doubted he would bother sending a mere changeling after himself, so why…

Jareth bit off a growl. He was going to have to discipline some of his younger courtiers. It would seem someone had slipped that Sarah was learning proficiency in basic magics at one of those blasted balls.

Sarah spoke then, interrupting his thoughts.

"That's right, the junkyard was covered in iron stuff. I'm pretty sure I saw a car in there too!" She weakly joked, trying to cover her queasiness.

Jareth's eyes narrowed. He realized then that she was trying to fight off mental shock.

**_"Note to self; Avoid messy killing in front of Sarah."_ **

Sarah saw that she wasn't fooling anyone. She sighed.

"Next time I can't stop you from killing someone, kindly do it where I _can't_ see." She closed her eyes again and suppressed a shudder.

"Precious," Rumbled his low soothing voice in the most comforting tone she'd ever heard it. It somehow made her stomach toss and cramp a little less.

"You know it was trying to harm you?" She looked at him again and fond his glowing eyes looking at her _compassionately_. She hadn't even known he could _feel that_. She nodded at him.

Jareth took a slow step forward, keeping his eyes gently locked on hers.

"The changeling was sent by the Fae to kidnap you to use as leverage in the war. It and the gun were warded to prevent you from being able to defend yourself." Jareth took another step forward.

"The bullets were made in such a way that would prevent you from being able to use magic on them. They were going to drag you of to the Underground and lock you away for their own use. They clearly didn't care if you were hurt in the process." Jareth as twisting the truth a little here, he doubted Ithiavol wanted her injured initially unless totally necessary, but it was having the desired result.

Anger was starting to burn in Sarah's eyes.

"Though I have tried to keep it otherwise, they want to involve you in this war." He saw what she was about to say and preemptively stuck "They cannot touch Toby, because of your win, no one in the Underground can. But they want to use you to destroy your friends."

Green fire glared up at him. Good. That was better than the haunted fear that had been there moments ago. Sarah could use anger, but fear and shock might destroy her.

Jareth had reached her side by this point. Sarah was livid. Some stupid fairy thought to involve her in their petty little war because they couldn't take the Goblin King. A war THEY STARTED! She bloody well thought not!

Sarah felt a gentle hand on her arm. She looked into brilliant blue and green eyes that burned with her same anger. They held a question as well.

'Are you ok? Will you be alright? How can I help?' They promised that her attackers would not get away with this.

Sarah felt her heart melt a little even as her eyes darken. "Kick their butts for me, k?"

Jareth smiled like a goblin.

"It would be my pleasure." He handed her back his gift which she had dropped in the excitement before offering her his arm again. Sarah looked at it before ducking around it and wrapping an arm around his waist, leaning her head on his arm.

She noted with mild irritation just how short she was standing next to him.

" _ **So not fair…"**_

"It's getting pretty dark. Walk me home?" She questioned as she looked up into his not unpleasantly surprised face. His smile became a little more devious.

"As you wish, Precious."

* * *

_Authour notes: Ok_ sooooo _thoughts? You guys have been waiting for this interaction for a while now, was it everything you hoped for? Who did you feel about their interaction? Thanks for reading!!_


	12. Chapter 12

_Authors notes: Hello again, my lovely! Here you are, a nice long chapter for your patience. And because I love you all so, I am posting this here on AO3 first!_

_Credit to whom credit is due_

_I own nothing but the story and the caffeine needed to create it!_

_-Wild-is-Good_

 

**_Chapter 11_ **

 

Raeth and Gaethin stopped in the hall and looked on with dual grins as their king passed by in what could only be described as a cloud of euphoria.

 

The Goblin King had a spring to each step that danced as if in time to a tune only he could hear. His shoulders were thrown back in something far more gleeful then their usual pride. His eyes cast off streaks of light that were generally only seen when Mab had pushed him to his breaking point, and this glitter was decidedly more joyful. Jareth’s lips curled up in a semi-permanent smile, instead of their usual smirk.

 

The two Othånas turned to each other, their own smiles taking on a knowing edge.

 

“We must remember to thank her ladyship.” Raeth crooned to his companion.

 

Gaethin nodded in mock solemnity. “Indeed.” The green haired goblin leaned over to spy back down the hallway. “I don’t believe I’ve seen him this happy since Oberon tripped on his robes and fell flat on his nose in the High Courts.”

 

Both goblins guffawed at the memory before continuing on their way down the hall.

 

The truth was that Jareth was in a Great mood. His subjects had been treated to dancing stars at night, impromptu and royally performed musical numbers, sparkling Greco-Sadthee infrastructure, and pathways that always lead you directly where you wanted to go.

 

And they all knew the Champion was to thank for it.

 

Jareth turned a corner and began to walk up one white marble walls to the level above.

 

Gravity didn't mean much in the Goblin Kingdom. It, like most everything else, bent to the will of the King; most goblins could walk/climb up walls and ceilings anyway. As such, the architecture tended to have designs that would give even M. C. Escher a headache.

 

Jareth passed through an airy open columned room before executing a complex turn into the next archway. As he strode past the bay of windows his mind again returned to his first real evening with Sarah.

 

After Sarah had invited him to walk her home, their conversations had slowly morphed back into their former playfulness, the Champion quickly recovering from her shock.

 

Jareth had noted that physical contact had done wonders to improve her mood, as the longer she stayed in his arms the more her body had started to relax. It revealed to him her preferred means of expressing and receiving affection, which never hurt to know when pursuing a partner.

 

When they had reached her parents’ home and he had reluctantly released her, she had turned around and gave him what had to be the **biggest** hug he had received since he left childhood. The warmth from that gesture still sat snugly in his gut and tugged a smile to his lips whenever he thought of it.

 

She had looked up at him with big, affectionate green eyes and a with a blindingly cruel smile had asked him again to “Kick those skinny fairy pricks in the arse” for her.

 

At her second voicing of the request, he swore to her that he would. Jareth had sworn to himself to make it _hurt_.

 

The main war was now over, only little squabbles left over. Legends were already being formed about the crushing win of the Goblins. Ithiavol was currently sitting in chains in Jareth’s 'special' dungeon.

 

The one directly below the Bog.

 

Sarah had smiled at him after his promise, a real smile, the kind that spoke only of warmth and affection, had squeezed him a little tighter and had wished him a Happy Thanksgiving. With his _name._

 

Every time she voiced his name it sent a shiver down his spine and made his want to crow with joy.

 

He could see her now. Not through scrying, she was still magically impervious to him, but he _could_ go to her. Where before he could not go near her in any form, in his were-form he could get within a stone’s throw, and only had to wait for her invitation to come.

 

When she said his name, he could go to her however he liked.

 

And with each repetition of his name, the distance at which he was held from her shrunk. Soon enough, he might be able to appear before her whenever he like, however he liked it.

 

Jareth’s smile swelled in size till it was a full-blown grin.

 

He had started rewarding her every time she called his name, accidental or not, with little tips on magic or nuggets of information about the Underground. Nothing too obvious or complex, he still needed something to hold over her to further tempt her bellow, but just enough to feed her ravenous mind and keep her attention.

 

If he were honest with himself, he doubted he would be able to lure her Under until she deemed herself ready to go, but that didn't stop him from trying.

 

He strode through an ornate doorway depicting gorgons freezing characters that looked suspiciously like the Court of Summer into the corridors of the Labyrinth. He took a deep breath of the fresh, clean air and let the feeling of calm expectancy simmer in his heart. 

 

She would come. Sarah Williams days above were numbered.

 

It was only a matter of time.

 

~~~~~J/S~~~~~

 

Krat the makeup loving, bog-destined goblin and Sir Didymus the Valiant, Knight of the Queen's Future Guard shared a look of mild concern as Sarah let out her third scream of frustration today and flung herself face first onto her papers strewn bed. It was Saturday, and Sarah usually loved Saturday, but today it seemed all she could do was scowl at her studies and scream profanity into her pillow.  From their perk on one of the bunk beds lined up on the long wall of the dorm, they could see the entire war zone.

 

It was not a pretty sight.

 

Papers, textbooks, fabric, cardboard, styrofoam, candy wrappers and cans of Monster had taken over the usual controlled chaos.

 

Hoggle, or Higglebreath the Traitor in some circles, glance up from his book briefly to cast an unimpressed look at his best friend’s temper tantrum, but then again, this wasn’t exactly the first time he’d had to deal with The-Girl-Who-At-The-Peach-But-Won-Anyways during finals. Hoggle snuggled down deeper into his armchair and read on, intentionally ignorant to his friend's plight.

 

Ludo lowed softly from his beanbag. The gentle giant wanted to help, but last time he had gotten up to try and give ‘Sawa’ a hug he had scattered her... piles... and she had nearly broken into tears.

 

Sarah’s brain was dying.

 

She was a decent student. She took decent notes, didn’t skip classes and for the most part paid attention to her teachers. She even got the majority of her assignments done on time!!

 

So why was it that they all insisted on punishing her with a metric butt-ton of assignments all due at the same time, while cramming three weeks’ worth of knowledge into the week before she had to vomit it all back up for the heaviest weighted grade of the semester?!!

 

And on top of studying for the final exams she had:

 

Three final essays for English.

Final costume project for Costume design complete with its own short essay.

Two set building assignments.

Three monologues to perfect.

A 3-minute music composition to write.

A set of jury songs due.

And the big end of the semester mini mathematics dissertation.

 

 ** _Mini. Mathematics._** **_Dissertation._**

 

What kind of freaking **Sadist** demands his students write a freaking 11-page paper on _MATH!!!!!_ This mind-bogglingly evil project was worth **_one-third of her grade._ **

 

Sarah slowly lifted her head back up to sightlessly gaze at her paper storm of a dorm-room. Scattered all around were bits and piece of each project. Her ‘kitchen’ table was covered in scraps of fabric, her desk and bed were littered with research, her floor had become the holding ground for the stets/props assignment.

 

To say that Sarah felt overwhelmed was an understatement. She had one week left before finals hit, and half of the assignments were due **this** week!

 

In the back of her mind, she admitted that it probably didn’t help that around halfway through the semester she had started falling behind just a little bit due to the amount of time she spent studying magic instead of doing homework or sleeping.

 

Sarah completely blamed Jareth for that one.

 

Sarah was well aware of the fact that he had been and still was intentionally stoking her obsessive fascination with all thing ‘fantasy’ with his little tidbits of information, using them to slowly chip away at her resolve to go Under under her own power. Of course, she’d be damned before she gave in and let someone else take her, but it did mean that she devoted even more time to the study of how to transport herself there.

 

Sarah sat up on her bed and glared around her disaster of a room. So really, this was Jareth’s fault.

 

She winced a little. Saying his name that first time had been a mistake. She had known it beforehand and had known it as soon as it left her mouth. Not only did his majesty glitter poof in whenever she said his name, but had it become harder and harder not to use it in casual conversation.

 

Just like she had thought it would.

 

It wouldn’t be so bad if he understood basic human curtesy’s. Or cared to understand. She genuinely enjoyed his company and was starting to consider him one of her best friends, second only to Hoggle. He was still a little off-putting, and after that display with the changeling she was rightfully wary, but he had never even remotely threatened her, was charming and fun, and there were times when his caring and tenderness would catch her off guard and knock her off balance.

 

But then he’d go barging into her room without invitation or prance around campus with her should she slip up and say his name out loud. She was already starting to get teased by her cast-mates about ‘That tall hot blonde piece of man flesh’ that had been seen walking her from practice once.

 

Terms like “I ship it” and “OTP” had been thrown around at nauseam.

 

When she had accused Jare--- **HIM** of doing it on purpose over letters, and then had to explain what those terms meant, his response back had practically radiated smug satisfaction and had been so chock full of innuendos she had actually blushed. She knew that Othånas were just playfully flirty by nature, she’d met enough by now to know they meant no harm by it, but it still made her heart flutter a little when Jar- **HE** did it.

 

Oh, and that little stunt where she had stupidly asked him to walk her home the first time? Ya, her entire family was convinced she was secretly dating and in denial. Karen was Through The ROOF.

 

Talk of grandbabies abounded.

 

On top of that, she knew that **he** had set a guard rotation on her. An **Othånas** guard rotation. It seemed her usual retina of lesser goblins just wasn’t going to cut it anymore. She’d catch glimpses of larger than average owls that didn’t quite act right all-around campus. She wasn’t the only one who noticed them either. The local harry potter fandom was losing its proverbial s***, and the staff were going nuts trying to find out were all these birds had come from. Some weren't even native to the Americas.

 

The thought that she was being constantly watched, even if for her own protection, really irritated her. She knew better than to try and talk J- **_HIM_ ** out of it, he had made it very clear on several occasions before and after the changeling incident that her safety was a serious matter to the Goblin Kingdom. She also knew better than to exercise her power to send them all back down to the Underground, thus risking the wrath of the severely pissed of Othånas’ and their terrifying king. Sarah was pretty sure Jareth would skin her alive if she tried something like that, and only half metaphorically.

 

“Grrrrrrrrrrha” the poor downtrodden student growled to the room at large upon realizing his name had slipped into her thoughts again. She was met with some scattered applause.

 

“Good one Lady, ya’s getting much better.” Krat clapped approvingly.

 

“Yah, ya just gotta add a bit more ruble in yer throat.” Dayz instructed in with a nod.

 

Didymus chimed in with a note of pride to his voice. “Verily, My Lady! Soon enough you will have a passable growl at your disposal.”   

 

Sarah rolled her head to give him a flat look that clearly said, _“I don’t want a passable growl at my disposal.”_

 

The fox knight leveled a reprimanding look at her. “Never underestimate the power of a good growl.”

 

As is sensing her agitation from _the other room_ , the giggling Glycine from **HIS** first bouquet let out another tinkling stream of laughter.

 

Sarah felt her eye twitch.

 

She was starting to hate those things, but she didn’t have the heart to kill them. Hoggle shot her another judge-ie glance. He had offered to ‘off them’ for her, but she had stopped him. Because she was kind and sentimental like that.

 

Sarah sighed and rubbed her eye. “Damn you, Jareth” she muttered under her breath.

 

“And what is it that I am to be damned for?” Asked a silky baritone.

 

The reaction in the room was immediate.

 

A maelstrom of activity exploded into life as Hoggle dove off his chair to scramble behind it and Ludo tried to blend in with his bean bag. Ambrosius scampered under one of the bunk beds whining and some of the smaller goblins joined him. Didymus jumped to a standing salute before his king, and Kart fell in his hurry to hid from him.

 

Sarah groaned.

 

“Ugh not noooow, I don’t have time for this, go awaaaaaay.” the brain-dead girl moaned, rolling her eyes to the ceiling and praying for patience. She in no way had the mental fortitude to deal with their usual level of verbal sparring.

 

“You called. Did you not mean it?” He taunted, raising an eyebrow in challenge. He lazily flicked a hand toward Didymus in a dismissive gesture. “At ease, sir knight.”

 

Didymus bowed again and sat back down.

 

Sarah mutely glared at him.

 

“What is it Precious, you seem so agitated.” Jareth crooned.

 

“Oh, flap off feather boy, we both know you’ve been skulking outside my window all day.” she testily snapped, rolling her eyes. Her patience had just about evaporated, and she wasn’t in the mood for goblin games.

 

“Not all-day, Love, or else I might know what is distressing you so.” He responded smoothly.

 

 **_“… Screw you and your poetic everything.”_ ** _“Big girls can curse aloud in their heads”_

 

Sarah growled under her breath

 

Jareth gave a mock gasp, one gloved hand covering his mouth.“Why Precious, you sound like a kitten.” he crooned as if talking to a kitten.  

 

Sarah glared daggers and the goblins went into an uproar.

 

“Kingy don't discourage her!” A large hairless beaked-nosed goblin scolded.

 

“She only just been learning and has been trying very hard!” Dayz reprimanded.

 

“Don’t worry Sarah yous sound like a very scary kitten,” Tipps assured the girl.

 

“Yo’lls get there, don't give up!” another, scaly fellow encouraged.

 

Sarah flopped back on her bed and pulled a pillow over her face.

 

Jareth chuckled, skillfully navigating the piles to come to her bedside. He noted the disaster that was currently occupying the room, as well as the type of empty foodstuffs that were lying around.

 

‘Junk food’ is what Sarah called most of it; next to no nutritional value and half of it tasted bad, but it was quick and easy to make when one needed to sate hunger. Thus, not Sarah’s go-to by any means.

 

He leaned against the short, low-quality headboard near where she was trying to smother herself with her pillow.

 

“In all seriousness, Precious, what’s the matter?” He asked gently, reaching out to soothe some of her ebony hair down.

 

Sarah felt her heart skip and waved a hand around the room without removing the pillow.

 

“Finals.”

 

Jareth stared down at her uncomprehendingly.

 

He waited a moment for her to elaborate before continuing. “ ‘Finals’ what, darling?”

 

Sarah peeped out from the pillow with a look of exasperation that Jareth was pretty sure for once _wasn’t_ directed at him.

 

“Final **_Everything_ ** _.”_ she croaked dramatically.

 

At his nonplussed look she removed the pillow completely and sighed. “Finals are the end of the schooling term assignments and tests that generally take up a lot of weight toward your ‘final’ grade. Most classes have very large tests that are worth a lot of points that cover the entire semester's curriculum, and many have large projects due around the same time.” Sarah explained in a tired voice. A pained look crossed her features as she continued.

 

“So basically what finals mean to the student is a one to two week period of nothing but study cramming, extra homework, massive assignments piled up on each other, zero sleep, little food, too much caffeine and So. Many. Tears.”

 

Sarah gaze snapped into a glared in frustration as she gazed up into his face.  “And none of the teachers seem to be able to realize that their class isn’t the only one we’re taking and just keep piling the work up!” She started waving her hands in the air above her as she gesticulated. “Most of us are taking 6 to 8 classes at a time, and when all that work adds up you get…!” She gestured angrily to her room.

 

An angry silence permeated the room as its owner quietly fumed.

 

“That... seems highly illogical.” the Goblin King finally stated, cocking his head to the side in a very bird-like motion. “How is a student supposed to learn and display mastery if they spent all their time trying to keep up with the workload?”

 

He gestured to her room.  “And how is a test that is studied for profusely supposed to show mastery of the concept? That is just temporary memorization that will be forgotten as soon as the test is over.”

 

Sarah smiled at him in a way that was all tooth and no joy. “Welcome to college.” She spread her arms wide “I _pay_ for this torture.”

 

Jareth raised another eyebrow, but Sarah sighed and continued. “Which is why I can’t afford to fail any of these classes. They're too expensive to take again.”

 

Jareth looked around quietly for a moment. “This seems like a rather broken system.”

 

Sarah let out a hoarse laugh and rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hands. “You don’t even know the half of it.”

 

Jareth was beginning to understand why his beloved was feeling a bit short tempered. This was the kind of stress only Kings going to land disputes went through. And how often did she have to deal with this?

 

He asked her, and Sarah laughed dryly, something he was beginning to recognize as a **bad sign**.

 

She made to answer when a *ding* was heard across the room and Sarah catapulted herself out of bed.

 

Hoggle popped his head out from behind the couch. “‘Bout time the damn toad got back to you!” the dwarf scowled as Sarah practically flew to her desk seat.

 

Jareth had to suppress a laugh at how the papers flew up to in her wake. He flicked his fingers to send them back to their original places before crossing back over to her. He cast a side-eye toward the rock caller currently shedding all over the strange settee and mentally grimace.

 

Nothing for it, he would have to get special furniture made for the creature in the castle. _Self-cleaning_ furniture.

 

Sarah bent over her computer, eyes scanning the document before her.

 

Tipps jump up onto her shoulder peering down at the massive as well.

 

“Wha’s this rubbish?! It doesn’t even answer the freaking question!!” the lesser goblin scolded, waving madly at the screen.

 

Sarah’s eyes darted back and forth over the page, trying to make sense of what it said before she dropped her head on the desk and resisted the urge to scream.

 

Tipps hopped off her shoulder and kept trying to read the screen, swearing like a brownie at her teacher.

 

It was official. Her math professor had wholly and truly screwed her over.

 

Jareth became increasingly more concerned. He had never _ever_ seen his fair Champion look so… defeated.

 

Hoggle left his refuge entirely to come over to Sarah.

 

Jareth nearly snapped his hand off when the dwarf placed it on her back. In fact, the only thing stopping him was the fact he couldn’t harm any of the Champions companions. He settled for glaring daggers at the impotent little runt, who had the audacity to ignore him for once.

 

Hoggle instead focused entirely on his friend. Hoggle had been through 8 finals with Sarah, and knew when she was at her breaking point.

 

“Wha’s he say Sarah?” he softly asked the poor girl.

 

“Nothin’ ‘elpful.” spat Tipps.

 

Hoggle glared at the little goblin and Tipps shut up, contenting himself with muttering curses under his breath.

 

“Tipps is right.” Sarah moaned. She heaved a sigh before forcing herself to sit up and face her problems like the big college girl she was. She opened up a new tab on her computer and started searching.

 

“He basically re-told me what he said in class, sent me the ‘resource’ he already gave me, avoided answering my questions entirely, and subtly implied I’m a major idiot and told to stop being lazy.”

 

Suddenly the room **felt** _dark_.

 

The hair on the back of Sarah's neck stood on end. Her legs broke out into goosebumps. Adrenaline washed over her in a tsunami wave.

 

She noted out of the corner of her eye the dark tendrils of magic that seemed to pulsate start creeping into the corners of the room. She controlled her breathing, keeping it the same steady pace as before, and kept her posture loose as she searched away on the web.

 

The other occupants of the area were not so stoic. Goblin squeaks of fright could be heard, along with the popping sensation as most evacuate the premises. Tipps vanished without a sound, Ludo moaned in fear before bolting into the standing mirror/ portal, and Ambrosius darted out from under the bed to join the rock caller. Didymus was the only one unshaken, he merely called after his cowardly mount in irritation.

 

Hoggle cowered near Sarah, looking downright petrified.

 

Sarah turned briefly to glance behind her.

 

Nope. Jareth was not pleased.

 

Jareth, too, had read the response over Sarah's shoulder, along with her original question and **He. Was. NOT. Pleased.**

 

Sarah had asked perfectly valid questions in a thoughtful and intellectual way, and the response she received from this ‘teacher’ was completely irrational, uneducational, and uncalled for.

 

His future queen was spending the time and resources to educate herself and was being met with this kind of response from the ones she was PAYING to teach her?

 

Completely. **_Unacceptable_ **.

 

If this was the sort of educational treatment she was getting at this ‘university’, he was going to have to supply tutors to supplement her schooling. Sarah **wanted** to learn and he was _infuriated_ that with was the kind of treatment she was getting for her trouble.

 

“Is this what your ‘professors’ are like?” His tone was deathly calm, his face troublingly still.

 

Sarah felt her heart drop into her stomach.

 

“Only the bad ones.” She answered tightly. “If they were all like this, I would have switched to a different college.”

 

“Indeed.” His tone and face stayed flat. It was all Sarah could do to keep her heart rate steady, knowing he would hear it.

 

“What exactly is this assignment that he seems so inclined not to help you on?”

 

Sarah felt fear clench her stomach, before she came to a conclusion.

 

He wasn’t mad at her. In fact, he was mad _for_ her, and reasonably so. Her teacher was being an unnecessary prick about this. And honestly, she trusted Jareth.

 

So she decided to just unload.

 

“I’m supposed to an 11-page paper on a mathematical concept of his choosing. He assigned composite functions with log, which he _knows_ I don’t understand because I completely bombed that portion of the class.” Sarah’s fingers fell harder on her keyboard as she spoke.

 

“I have to explain exactly how this stupid thing works and why it works, and where it comes from and how it was used back then and what its practical uses are today and what problem can arise from using it and etcetera! ” Her voice rose with her frustration until she threw her hand in the air.

 

“And I take it this is an abnormal assignment for this type of class.” Somehow, his voice got colder.

 

Hoggle shivered. He honestly didn’t know who to fear more, the malefic king or the pissed off young women inciting his rage.

 

“ _Extremely._ ” Sarah’s hands slammed back down to her laptop. “This is an _entry-level class_. Aaaaannnd he said in class we could email him any question we had or didn’t understand and he'd get back to us the same day because he was closing down his office for the semester, but it’s been three days and he’s just now responding _with this crap_ , ” she waved angrily to the computer screen, “this assignment is worth **a third of my total grade** and this is all just BULLSHITE!”

 

Sarah sighed explosively, flopping back in her chair. “There, I’ve said it.”

 

“Do ya feel better now?” Hoggle asked weakly.

 

“Yeah, actually, I do.” She stated primly. She tilted her head back to look up into the stone face of the Goblin King. “So, yeah, that's part of the reason why I’m a little ‘agitated’ right now.” She gave him a small self-deprecating smile before turning back to her work.

 

There was a deathly quiet that filled the room, interrupted only by the clicking from Sarah's keys.

 

Hoggle slunk back behind his couch.

 

Jareth ignored the coward, focusing instead on the girl.

 

As if sensing his train of thought Sarah spoke again.

 

“No, you can’t kill him, because if you kill him or if he disappears I could get a failing grade in the class and/or worse be forced to take it again.” She paused before admitting, “Besides, he hasn’t actually done anything worse than severely inconvenience me, and as we’re being honest, that's hardly worth of the kind of bloody painful death you’re currently concocting.”

 

Jareth felt his lip twitch up against his will and opened his mouth to speak but she wasn’t finished.

 

“Nor can you psychologically torture him with goblin mayhem, because he already doesn’t like me and if he starts having a bad time he will most likely take it out on me and my grade, and again, _I need to pass this class._ I only have one more math left after this, and I want to get done with all of it as soon as possible. So honestly, it's in my best interest to keep the prick in a good mood.” She shrugged her shoulders in a ‘that's just the way it is’ manner.

 

Jareth tried not to be amused. He really did.  But despite his best efforts, the oppressive aura over the room lifted, going from lethal to mildly irritated. Jareth couldn’t help but be proud of the fact that she had gotten into the unthinking habit of articulating thoughtful and well-crafted arguments. It would serve the future queen well.

 

“Then Precious, what would you have me do?” Jareth questioned with begrudging mirth.

 

“Nothing,” Sarah answered simply, relieved now that she wasn’t dealing with a murderous Othånas.

 

All the remaining occupants of the room gave a collective silent sigh.

 

Then Sarah reconsidered.

 

“Actually, if you know anything about Log function, or know anyone who could explain them to me, that would be great, cuz I’m really not sure how I'm going to BS my way through this paper.” She stated plainly as she kept up the steady plunking on her computer.

 

Hoggle mentally winced. 

 

Sarah realized her mistake a minute too late. She had just asked **_The Goblin King_** for help.

 

“I’m sure I can find something.” Jareth purred, leaning closer to the delightful little female before him. Sarah hadn’t asked him for anything since they had gotten back into contact, and he was _more_ than inclined to grant her a little favor.

 

“And what would it cost me,” Sarah asked, her words drawn out in suspicion as she swirled her chair around to face him.

 

**_“Miiiiiiistaaaaake.”_ **

 

He was leaning over her now, glowing eyes hooded and sparkling with something that didn’t bode well for her hormones. The two strands of long gold hair left brushed forward, nearly kissing her cheeks. A hint of a fang peaked of from his lips as they quirked into a terrifyingly self-satisfied smile. She noticed his outfit then, and against her will felt her mouth water.

 

He had on a dark green silk poet shirt and a black, silver laced vest, with his typical high waisted trousers in silver gray and knee-high boots that matched his vest.

 

Dear lord this male coordinated better than any women she’d ever met, and _damn_ did he look fine. She felt a flush try and fight its way to her cheeks. No man, or _male_ , should be able to pull of sexy and dangerous so well outside of the silver screen. It just wasn’t right!

 

Jareth hummed, looking her over.

 

Sarah began to worry _slightly_.

 

After a long moment, he responded with a slow drawl, words nearly dripping off his lips. “Permission to deliver retribution from the crown.”

 

 **_“Ok, could have been a LOT worse.”_ ** Sarah thought. Outwardly she narrowed her eyes at the Greater Goblin.

 

“What sort of retribution are we talking about here, Goblin King?”

 

His smile held an edge of maleficence as he moved to leaned against her desk.

 

“Well love, it would appear that a protect-ee of the Goblin Kingdom has been maltreated. That cannot be allowed to stand.” A crystal appeared in his hand and he began to twirl it around his wrist.

 

Hoggle shuddered from his hiding place.

 

“How would it look if the Labyrinth allowed one of its own to be so injured without retribution?” Jareth shot a ‘am I right’ look at Didymus, who nodded vigorously in agreement.

 

“Indeed sire! It would be most dishonorable to allow such an injustice to go unpunished.” The Knight declared decisively, unduly satisfied to see his lady's unfortunate situation being rectified at last. He had borne witness to his fair friend nearly cry herself to sleep over these ‘finals’ one too many times.

 

“Well put Sir Knight.” Jareth nodded with a devil's grin.

 

He continued, ignoring Sarah's unconvinced looks “Now darling, you have made it clear that outright harming this individual will reflect back poorly on yourself, but that leaves plenty of options open to us.” As Jareth spoke, he spun the crystal up to his fingertips.

 

“It does?” The Champion asked warily.

 

“It does.” The goblin’s smile was downright scary as he presented her with the crystal.

 

“I have found that humans tend to be rather susceptible to _recurring_ _dreams_.”

 

Sarah gazed into the crystal and _shuddered._ Could she really summit another human being to that? She glanced back at her computer screen and both Jareth and Hoggle watched her expression grow cold.

 

Yes, it turned out, when the said human assigned her an 11-page BS project just to watch her suffer, she really could.

 

“Is that _all_ the crown seeks to do?” She questioned.

 

There was an edge of cruelty that gave Jareth a pleasant thrill in her tone of voice. He smiled again. “For now.”

 

From the other room, bell-like giggles chimed again. Sarah closed her eyes and tried to think happy thoughts.

 

Jareth turned his head in the direction of the sound, a mildly confused look on his face.

 

“What was-”

 

“Those flowers you gave me the first time,” Sarah stated dully. “The Glycine.”

 

He turned to look at her.

 

“Why in the Above have you kept them this long?!” His hilariously perplexed expression almost made Sarah forgive him for giving them to her in the first place.

 

“They have yet to die, Highness, and My Lady doesn’t have the heart to kill them,” Didymus explain, at some point moving to perch on the back of Hoggle’s armchair. He was honest like a cat, almost appearing at random places and nearly giving Sarah “I-Deal-With-Lesser-Goblins-On-A-Regular-Basis” a heart attack.  

 

They paused a moment, a moment the flowers saw fit to fill with their obnoxious giggling. Sarah groaned.

 

“Besides, they were a gift, I can’t bring myself to get rid of them.” Sarah droned wearily, slouching back in her chair.

 

“Bloody idiot,” Hoggle muttered from his corner. He guffed off Didymus’ quite scolding and shot Sarah another withering stare.

 

Jareth raised an eyebrow and fought a smile.

 

Mighty Makers the women was adorable.

 

“I’m flattered you would honor my gifts so, but _please_ allow me to rectify the situation.”  

 

He waved his hand and the giggling stopped mid tinkle. Sarah and Hoggle froze, waiting subconsciously for them to start again before both blissful relaxing.

 

“‘Bout time.” Muttered the dwarf squirming against the back of his armchair to get comfy before setting in again on his book.

 

“My hero.” Sarah joked, looking up at Jareth with mild adoration.

 

Hoggle peaked around the chair and watched the Goblin King swell up three sizes in pride. The dwarf resisted the urge to snort and shared a knowing look with his knight friend. He had been right in the tunnels.

 

**_“You’ve sure got his attention.”_ **

 

~~~~J/S~~~~

 

Finals week was almost over, and Sarah was seriously contemplating kissing Jareth.

 

On the cheek.

 

Maybe.

 

Anyways, his majesty had come through in more ways than one. Not only had he had sent her a _hand-written journal_ explaining the concepts, complete with moving examples, whatever dream he had sent her teacher had done a one-eighty on said professor's attitude toward her. He had become extremely helpful, and within hours of turning her paper in she had gotten an A for it online. He had also given her an A on her final, which had brought her total class grade up to a 92%, the highest math grade Sarah had ever had in her _life_.

 

She might have felt bad for ‘cheating’ if she had thought she actually had any ability to keep Jareth from tormenting the man. But she didn’t, so she didn’t.

 

She had been sure to send him a bouquet of Agrimony, Red Camellia Japonica, Plane Tree bows, Chrysanthemum and Crown Imperial as thanks.

 

He had sent a White Camellia and Azalea back.

 

* * *

 _Author's notes: Alright so you suckers were lucky, I was going to make you all do your homework and figure out the flower riddles for yourself this time, but my lovely beta said something and now I'm just going to give it to you.  So everybody love on Mickeydawn. If you still want to try and figure it out, ignore the below and have fun! Try_ [ _http://www.joellessacredgrove.com/language.html#w_ ](http://www.joellessacredgrove.com/language.html#w) _or_ [ _http://www.languageofflowers.com/flowermeaning.htm_ ](http://www.languageofflowers.com/flowermeaning.htm) _, they are two of the resources I use for this fiction.  Note: The Language of Flowers is not exact and meanings can differ source to source._

_Also, if you guys have any questions about anything, don’t hesitate to ask! I actually LOVE answer question about my work, and it helps me flesh things out a bit as you guys tend to catch things I don’t. Think of it as a community project! See a plot hole, help fix it by letting me know. Think I’m missing something? Point it out! See a way to improve the story? GO FOR IT!  Have tips for writing styles? Give me PLEASE._

 

_Sarah massage:_

_Agrimony: Thankfulness, Gratitude_

_Ca_ _mellia Japonica, Red: Unpretending excellence_

_Plane Tree: Genius_

_Chrysanthemum: You're a wonderful friend_

_Crown Imperial: Majesty, Royalty_

 

_Jareth’s is:_

_Camellia, White: You're adorable_

_Azalea: Romance; Take Care of Yourself for Me;_

 

_I think at this point we all know Sarah is going to blatantly ignore the “romance” bit. Silly Sarah. Good grades and Study breaks for all!!_

_-Wild-is-good_


	13. Chapter 13

**_Chapter 12_ **

Sarah finished the last of her bundles and sat back with a smile. 38 hours of planning, preparation, and meticulous crafting and she was finally ready.

Finals were _finally_ over, and classes were done and out. Winter break had come and liberated all the fried and burnt out students of Darvarth University.

All, that is, except the Theater departments.

The overtaxed actress gave a maniacal little giggle as she looked over the fruits of her labor. She had ink on her hands and bits of plant matter in her hair, but she didn't care.

Revenge was sweet.

Hoggle resisted the urge to roll his eyes. His dear friend may not realize it, but the poor thing was starting to imitate the goblins. Hoggle sighed. That's what came from overexposure to His Ballsiness (a name which Hoggle would never to this daydream of uttering aloud for fear of unspeakable punishments) and his retinue.

When the overworked college girl had proposed her little idea to him on the cover of a rare goblin free nights, Hoggle hadn't been able to decide how he felt.

On the one hand, ambushing the reigning Sovereign of the _mother-freaking_ _ **Labyrinth**_ seemed like a very bad idea, on par with chaining yourself to a tree in the Fiery Forest and singing "Chillin Down" with a saw at your feet.

In essence, a very dumb way to die.

On the other hand, the more Sarah elaborated the details of her plan to him, the more he fought not to fall down in tears of laughter. It would be the perfect revenge for all the crap 'The Rat' put Hoggle through, nicely bringing the 'all powerful' King's ego into check, and if any being Above or Below could pull it off, it would be Sarah.

So Hoggle had agreed to help her, like a good friend should. They had both agreed it was best to keep it between themselves, as Didymus and the ughlanus would view it as treason and poor Ludo wouldn't know how to help.

The two conspirators had carefully done their research, plotted out every advantage they could take, analyzed every detail inside out and upside down from holes and shortcomings. This was the Master of Games they were dealing with, one could never be too careful. They'd closed the curtains and worked in the 'dining room' of the dorm where there were no windows. Sarah had carefully set up a trigger spell on some candles around the room that would flare different colors if someone was spying on them and go out if someone tried tampering with the spell. Hoggle was mildly impressed, but then magic had always seemed to come naturally to Sarah.

Sarah had decided that between her hell-storm of a finals week, her growing vexation at a certain Goblin King for his inability to comprehend personal boundary, despite how helpful he could be when he wanted, and the unrelenting stress of the week of opening night that she needed to blow off some steam. And a friendly little ambush in celebration of the Goblins victory over the Insufferable Pricks seemed like the perfect way to do it.

Sarah turned to Hoggle, the excited twinkle of a trickster about to strike in her eyes.

"Ready?" She grinned.

Hoggle nodded, a sly smile sliding it way onto his own face. "Call'em"

Sarah smile broadened and gave a sing-song call to the open air.

"Thairin, I need you!"

~~~~J/S~~~~

Jareth was seriously considering the ramifications of declaring war on every being in this room. At once. Anything to save his thoughts from the mind-numbing tedium of it all.

The Goblin King sat on his throne-like chair the epitome of dark and brooding. His normally ever-present entourage of ughlanas outside the Labyrinth were nowhere to be seen.

Even King Dthraktin of the Night Crawlers, widely agreed to be one of the scariest beings in the Underground, seemed a trifle more friendly option at the moment.

His legs were carelessly thrown over the side, his boots crossed and his favored riding crop/pixie swotter tapping out an irregular beat. His head was probed in one elbow and his ancient eyes held more shadows than was safe for any being present.

They were leaking out from the edges of his darkened eyes in blackened wispy, while the reflective sheen of his iris twinkled dangerously. Though his chair received just as much light as everyone else in his corner of the room, his surroundings seemed to be blanketed with shadows.

All of these were clear warnings to the wise and wary observer that the Overlord of Chaos was reaching the end of his patience.

He had been trapped here in the Cahtóis de Raenrih, or Host of Royals, for 5 days now.

Five. Days.

He was a Goblin. Goblins don't sit still.

And yet here he was, five days into a stagnant mess of dining and whining amongst a flock of the most entitled, narcissistic peacocks in the Underground. Immortals reduced need for sleep was truly a curse at times like these as there was no breaking from their nauseating presence. If Jareth didn't leave the gathering without eviscerating at least one of them, it would be a miracle.

**_"If I leave_ _this_ _blasted gathering it will be a miracle."_ **

Jareth grimaced ruefully as he realized he'd picked up Sarah's human linguistic habit of over exaggerating.

The Cahtóis de Raenrih was an assembly of all the influential royalty in the Underground that occurred after every war. It had been Oberon's idea millennia back as a way of bringing closure and balance back to the underground by figuring out where everything stood after an upheaval.

It was all about food and whining.

Jareth _detested_ whining.

Honest complaints, he could handle. Unloading or ranting about a problem, he was just fine with. He didn't even mind Sarah's intentional over dramatizations of problems for humor sake.

But insistent, premeditated _whining_ about this or that simply for the sake of hearing one's own voice?

Just… _whining?_

It drove him absolutely mad.

Try running a _Goblin Kingdom_ for a day and then get back to him about 'civil disorder' and 'unruly behaviors'.

Jareth felt his claws twitch.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was grateful that the gloves were on. It wouldn't due for the other monarchs here to think he was threatening them _before_ he had actually decided to kill them.

The gloves were a leftover from time long ago when the Othanas would hide their true nature within the courts. The Greater Goblins would cover their claws, file down their teeth and cast glamors over their eyes to make themselves appear 'normal'.

When Jareth had formed his kingdom, the goblins had done away with the other two practices, but some, including himself, who came into contact with other species often still wore them.

They had practical uses, including providing a line of defense against poisoning, helping save more delicate creatures from accidental nicks, and putting other beings at ease. They had also become a bit of an ongoing fashion trend/ intimidation tactic. It was well known in the Underground that if an Othanas took their gloves off, someone was in _**deep**_ trouble.

Jareth's brooding glare swept across the room, picking out random inhabitants to rest on. The vast majority of its victims tried to ignore him best they could, but all felt the sinking sensation of dread wind its way through their guts.

He was the Goblin King, and who wasn't at least a little afraid of him?

~~~~~~J/S~~~~~

Queen Aoibhill of the Night Rain Trooping Faerie, or the Liquid Fae, minutely shifted in her settee as she tried to carry on her conversation with Queen Mab of the Winter Court. She just couldn't shake the tingles of unease travel up and down her spine.

Maker of marks, he was staring at **her**. She could sense the black tendrils of his chaotic magic curling their way around the room, loud and garishly declaring he was not happy.

Why was he looking at her?! She wasn't the one keeping them all here! Aoibhill flicked her eyes towards the bickering Sader and Centaur royalty. They were the ones dragging things out with their petty land dispute!

She continued on her conversation with Mab and tried not to feel relieved when the Wielder of Time turned his unsettling gaze upon another.

~~~~~J/S~~~~

Jareth tapped his claws on the bone of his arm rest. His vexation was growing to truly dangerous levels.

Just as he felt the urge to acts worm its way under his skin, a imposing, darkly colored Othanas appeared at his side. Thick, messy cropped brown hair covering the top of a thick scar crossing down from above one obsidian hard eye to the bottom of a sharp cheekbone, its matching set marking up all over his exposed skin. At one time he might have been considered handsome, in a dark dashing kind of way. Now, covered in the evidence of so many lethal wounds survived, he was nothing short of foreboding.

One of his truly fearsome generals and breaking absolutely every rule of the Raenrih by being there, Jareth could not have been more pleased and relieved to see Drathon.

The rest of the room cringed and glared. The Halls of the Cahtóis de Raenrih were heavily and intricately warded, nothing was supposed to be able to get in while the rulers of the Underground were in session.

And the Othanas had just slipped in.

Jareth tried not to smirk.

Unbeknownced to the gathering, he had made a study of the protections of the Halls and had warped and reshaped them to fit to his own liking, allowing through certain members of his kingdom and court.

This not only gave them access to him should something go awry (or someone be wished away) but also helped to spread fear and misinformation about the goblins themselves, making it look as if they were unhindered by any ward or safeguard and that not even the greatest protection could save you if a goblin truly wanted to get in.

It was the little things in life that kept beings of a well-hated kingdom from utter annihilation.

The darker goblin smiled.

"A bit bored are we, Your Majesty?" Drathon queried in Labyrinthian, flippantly leaning against his king's throne. Labyrinthian was one of the few laungedeas the all-tongues spell couldn't translate. Only those who live in or had run the labyrinth could understand it, which of course made it a foul offensive tongue in the eyes of the Fae.

Jareth ignored the heated glares he was getting from the other monarch and respond to his general in the same.

"However did you reach that conclusion?" Jareth asked in a dry voice.

Drathon shot a glance at the warping tendrils of dark magic permeating around the throne before mutely lifting his eyes back to his majesty.

"Call it a lucky guess, Highness."

"As it so happens, I might have a cure for you." Drathon promised, before producing a bouquet of purple and white flowers with a rather formal looking note attached.

Jareth's eyes lite up. He knew exactly who this letter was from, he had gifted her the stationary set.

Uncaring of the eyes that were pretending to ignore him, Jareth temporary pasted over the small bouquet in favor of peeling open the unadorned wax seal.

_**Dear Jareth, King of the Goblins,** _

_**You are hereby formally invited by the Lady of the Labyrinth to celebrate your recent victory over the Fae and her survival of Finals Week. The event will take place at the co-ordinance given at approximately 2 o'clock pm.** _

_**It is full winter here, and we will be in public, so I would recommend dressing warmly in a semi-human fashion so as not to raise suspicions, but you may also want to see to it that you still have full range of movement. Food and entertainment will be provided, all I ask is if you want alcoholic beverages for the evening you bring them yourself. Discreetly.** _

_**I have already invited select members of your court who I know and like,(Jareth hid a smirk. So no Gaethin)** _ _**but please feel free to bring along 1 or 2 more as you like.** _

_**Sincerely,** _

_**Miss Sarah Williams** _

For the first time in three days, Jareth smiled. Leave it to Sarah to be the one to save him from this tedium. He noted the inviting meaning of the spray in his hands and did his best, which was pretty damn good, to rise with dignity and pose from his throne knowing all eyes were on him.

"Well Drathon, how do you feeling about getting up to a bit of fun?" Jareth queried, still in their native tongue, handing the note to his General. Drathon's eyebrows rose as he accepted it and took in the contents.

"I would be honored, Your Highness."

~~~~~J/S~~~~

Aoibhill watched discreetly has the Goblin King turned to dismiss himself from the gathering.

"As thrilling as it is to wallow in your collective presences, I must bid you ado. I have received a summons from an ally that will not be ignored. Good Day and Fairfarren, all."

 ** _'_** ** _Ally indeed.'_** The lady queen thought to herself. She quickly looked over the blooms in his Generals grasp. White and pink ringed Dianthus, miniscule white Parsley blossom wrapped around the multi golden-throated Yarrow blooms, purple Hyacinth.

Make haste, Festivity, War, and Play/Sports/Games.

Most likely ment as: Make haste, let us celebrate your victory in the war with play and games.

Aoibhill screwed her nose up a little at the display. It was rather old fashioned, to send messages as thus, it went out of style centuries ago. And they were all above ground flowers as well.

Oh well. The Human champion was most likely unaware of the trends of the Underground, or perhaps it was an ongoing fad in her own world. Aoibhill found that all she cared about was the fact the child had drawn away the unsettling King.

Her head whipped around in panic as she heard some blithering idiot speak. "Wait! You can't leave yet! The meeting is still in session!"

Aiobhill bit back a groan as she heard the murmering consent of others in the room with the speaker. Lucky for all of them the Overlord of Chaos merely waved them off.

"Figure out your disputes as you will, the Labyrinth has no stakes in your petty quarrel. Our establishment with you all remains the same." Suddenly his terrible, cold eyes swept and silenced the room. "Wish away your own, and we will come for them."

One could have heard a pixie's sigh as the the goblins disappeared, leaving only an empty throne and a mist of glittering magic to give testament to their earlier presence.

Aiobhill couldn't hear anything over the tromunduos thundering of her oven pulse. Shaking dread coiled its way through her every vein.

 _ **'**_ _ **Moronic. Fools.'**_ The queen grumbled in the safety of her own mind.

* * *

Authors notes: I'll update this later. This is just kind a filler chapter. I wanted to do some more world building and needed to set up for the big chapter 13! Enjoy!


	14. Chapter 13

# Chapter 13

 

_Authors note: Forgive me, for I know it has been a stupidly long time since I updated! I just couldn't find a stopping point, and there was a S/J scene that need_ ed to happen _, (if not for your satisfaction then for mine, damn it! The problem with writing a 'realistic' healthy relationship slow burn is that_ ITS _SLOW! I want the kisses sooooo_ _bad people, and I'm the one writing it!). SO, this chapter actually got split into two, and the S/J scene is in the next one. Sorry, lovely! Hope you enjoy the double update!_

_Credit to whom credit is due_

_I own nothing but my imagination and this overabundant love for these characters!_

_-Wild-is-good_

* * *

 

At exactly 1:55:00 pm Eastern standard time a group of 8 beings waltzed into existence in front of a medium-sized building in the corner of the little college town.

They looked human enough, in stylish winter coats, jackets, scarves and had decidedly more 'punk' hairstyles, but nothing too extraordinary. They were all mildly attractive, but nothing that would stop you in your tracks.

Still, if you stood too close.

If you looked too long.

When you held their gaze for more than a few seconds, a sense of unease would tingle its ways down your spine. It would curl your toes and stab your fingertip. For no apparent reason, your gut would start to knot and churn, like it was tugging you away, far away from these men and women. Shadows seemed to dart out around their feet, only there for the most fleeting second.

Something about them was just… off.

A firey redhead faded out from the white shadows of the surrounding tree cover to meet them. "Your Majesty." The sentry greeted with a respectful nod.

"Therok." Jareth greeted his adviser.

"I see you managed to escape the de Raenrih." The shorter male smirked.

Thinking of the white faces he left behind at the meeting Jareth answered with his own vicious smile. "Much thanks to our Champion for that."

"Speaking of," Therok glanced over to the wood and brick building currently housing their future queen, "she banished the rest of her guards back to the Underground an hour and a half ago and gave me strict warning not to come until the scheduled time before giving me the slip. She even dismissed all the üghalnas"

Jareth tried not to be annoyed. He would have to have a little 'talk' with her later about security. "So naturally you tracked her down and scoped out the area."

"Only the perimeter. I fear for my safety if I dare spoil the Lady's surprise." The male sounded as if he were only half jesting.

Those among the group who had met the Lady before nodded in sympathy, while those who had yet to have the honor looked mildly confused and a bit judgmental.

The group in question consisted of the eight members of the Inner Court. While technically, there was only one court in the Goblin Kingdom, the 'Inner Court' was a group of Jareth's most trusted among the Othånas.

It consisted of Raeth and Gaethin, his closest friends/ confidants who also doubled as his chief diplomats and ran the Goblin inter-kingdom intelligence network; Therok, his head of personal security; Corlael and Drathon, his Generals, Adimean, his scholar / wise women, Krath, his Chief Judge Over The Üghlanas (aka. üghalnas rangaler) and mediatior for the non-goblin citizens, and finally Cultin, his Head Healer. Each member was loyal to Jareth beyond measure, and it pleased him all too much that Sarah had picked these individuals to take part in her celebrations.

"Well, have you any ideas as to what this place is?"

"Not particularly, your highness, save that it is a place where humans go to entertain themselves. The property is quite large, but the structures at least at the border on the verge of nonsensical. Some of them appear to be made of nothing more than oddly shaped bags of air."

Corleal, a strong looking female with long wild hair snorted.

"Why does this not surprise me?" She bemused as the group followed their king toward the building.

"Because if humanity is one thing, it is odd." Jareth snarked over his shoulder as he ascended up the short steps to the door. A chorus of chuckles answered him as he stepped through the door into the sparsely furnished room within.

He made his way up to the human behind the counter. The scrawny male jerked his gaze up before he smiled cheerfully and asked "Party for Sarah Williams?"

Jareth gaze swept over the human, whose name he would guess was Jason based on the tag he wore on his rather ugly shirt, before responding. "Indeed."

'Jason's' smile stretched a little wider, but his eyes started to take on a slightly uneasy look. "Happy to see you could make it! I've got the forms for you all to sign right here, along with your gear for the afternoon. Miss Sarah is the only scheduled party for the entire day, so you guys will probably have the whole place to yourself!"

Jareth nodded indulgently as he expected one of the clipboards the scrawny male had slid over the counter. The youth's smile wilted for a split second as he kept looking at the group before he seemed to catch himself and shook it off.

Jareth looked over the sheets as his entourage glanced over their own. He squinted a little at the wording of one of the paragraphs.

"'Participants agree to take no action against staff, facility or other clientele based on non-felony events transpiring on facility property' …?" Jareth read off, shooting a questioning look at Jason.

"Oh, it's just your basic liability form, Sarah took care of everything else for ya guys!" The human missed the dark looks he received for the casual use of Sarah's name as he continued to rattle off.

"Basically you agree not to take action against us if you get injured on our property, and you promise not to cause problems over any hurt feelings." Jason smiled again and shrugged. "Nothin too major, the big bosses just don't want any of the crazy court cases giving us bad media."

"Indeed." Jareth murmured again, looking over the sheet again with an eye of millennia of signing treaties. If this was an Underground contract, he would never _dream_ of signing it. However, this was an Aboveground human contract over the use of an entertainment facility.

Jareth cast a quick spell over the sheet to reveal any hidden traps that may have been inlaid into the paper, but he honestly wasn't surprised when he found none. The desk boy looked as if someone had walked on his grave before he blinked and seemed confused at his own reactions. Jareth resisted the urge to smirk and shot a questioning glance to the rest of the of Othanas.

Krath, around his height with messy purple hair, shrug. ' _I don't see anything wrong with it.'_ The others gave matching looks and nods, none of them seeing anything to be lost from signing.

Jareth turned back to his clipboard and sign with more flare then the cheap little office pen had probably seen in its entire life. As the Othanas handed in their signed clipboard Jason seemed to have gotten over his momentary fright because his smile got a little bigger.

"So, are you all a bunch of foreign lawyers? Cuz I don't think I've ever seen anyone actually **_read_** terms and conditions before."

"Their mistake." Drathon's chilling voice seemed to do nothing to damper Jason's new mood. The mortal male was becoming annoyingly perky.

"Alright, soooooo..." Jason started, hauling black, multicolored paint splattered _things_ onto the countertop, "Here is your gear. Like I said, Sarah, being the darling girl that she is, already rented it all out for you, so you don't have to sign anything else!"

Gaethin cast the boy a dull look at his attempt to poke fun, and Cultin had to subtly put a hand on Tharok's arm when the Othånas' claws from avenging the Lady's disrespect. Raeth reacted forward to pick up one of the items, which looked to be a flimsy, heavily splattered breastplate made out of fabric and padding. Drathon and Corael both picked up contraptions that consisted of a long narrow pipe, handle in the back and a big, and bulbous container on the top.

"What the in Hel is that?" Krath asked low in labyrinthian.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say it's a 'gun'," Cultin whispered with a grimace. Drathon nodded his agreement as Corael fingered the weapon's grip thoughtfully.

Several sets of eyebrows went up at the response.

Jason came around the counter and started explaining the use of the gear and how to put the padding on as he led them to the entryway of the court.

"-other than that, your all set. Just walk straight through these doors and the courts all yours!" Jason's smiles kept getting bigger and bigger, and a mischievous gleam had entered them. His previous fear seemed forgotten in favor of giddy energy.

Stopping at the doorway, the mortal turned to the side and reached into a cabinet.

"Oh, and Sarah asked me to give you this." He pulled out a small bouquet.

It was comprised of a skirt of Liquorice leaves surrounding blood red Yarrow and dark pink Rocket on all sides.

**_"I declare against you", "War", "Rivalry"._ **

Jareth accepted it with a scrutinizing gaze. **_'What are you up to, Precious?'_**

~~~~~J/S~~~~~

Hoggle snickered from his hiding spot in the watch tower in the center of the property. From here, he could see the entire property, a front row seat to the massacre he had helped plan.

The overly amused dwarf watched as the mostly helmeted dread of Othånas filled through the door, glancing about. Hoggle snickered again, popping a bit of that exploding corn Sarah had bought for him at the concession stand into his mouth.

They had no idea what was coming.

This thought brought him no end of joy. He and Sarah had worked hard to insure that every angle was covered. They had purposefully selected every member of the inner court to be invited, as those were the ones that caused Hoggle the most hustle and, as Sarah put it, "Where in charge of her lease."

Hoggle cackled out-right as he fiddled with the pair of bi-noc-cu-lars Sarah had given him. All that work, paying off right before his eyes.

The goblins were holding their weapons warily, clearly not used to or comfortable with them. They had pushed deeper into obstacle course forming a tactical formation with Jareth at their head.

Hoggle watched them quietly creep right into Sarah's trap. The dwarf wiggled back into his comfy seat and munched on more fluffy corn. This was going to be fun.

~~~~~~J/S~~~~~

Sarah's breath caught as she watched the Goblin King's dread of Othånas creep further into her clutches.

Her heart skittered and skipped with all the adrenalin being pumped into her veins. She could pick him out in an instant, even with his human glamour. He had chosen to vainly forgo his helmet. His mistake.

Sarah stilled her breathing as she lined up her shot. The world seemed to slow in the same manner it had when the changeling had attacked.

She could feel every pulse of her veins.

The Girl-who-ate-the-peach- ** _and-never-forgot_** merciless smiled as she took aim right at the back of His Majesty's head.

~~~~~J/S~~~~~

As the Othånas tracked their way through the strange maze of oddly shaped structures they tried to comprehend what their purpose might be. Some of them were made of wood, others of definingly loud bags of pumped air. They were odd, twisted shapes, curving and flying over head, with random holes and openings. It was almost reminiscent of the Labyrinth in its contorted-ness. There was music, a harsh jarring sound that did nothing to help with the noise pollution. They couldn't hear their own heart beats over the thunderous noise, let alone anything around them.

As they looked to the snowy ground, they found it odd that there was no trace of a footprint to be found. The group felt a collective tingle of unease travel down their spine.

That was their only warning. Jareth's head jerked forward as a splattering sound pierced the strained calm of the field.

Drathon and Colael circled around him in an instant, weapons raised as Cultin jumped to his side to check for damage.

Jareth raised a hand to the back of his stinging head, his fingers coming away covered in garish paint. The bright, nausea-inducing neon pink stained his black gloves as it dripped its way down his collar to stain his shirt.

Silence fell over the group, lasting only long enough for realization to dawn on them. Then the world fell into chaos.

The courtiers and king found themselves attacked from all sides. The snowy ground was soon bathed in bright colors and emptied shells as the fury of 9 burnt-out drama kids poured itself out on the unsuspecting immortals.

The Othånas tried to return fire, but the weapons in their hands felt clumsy and wrong. They tried to flank their king and make a tactical retreat to gain some cover, but Sarah had planned too well. She and her crew quickly had them separated up into small pockets surrounded on all sides, cornered into areas that could provide them with no shelter from the strategically placed college kids.

They were outnumbered, out planned, and frankly out _skilled._

It was a massacre.

It went on for 2 minutes before a blaring horn replaced the music. All fire stopped as laughing voice tried to speak over the intercom.

"Rou- _*laugh*_ , round one-* _sniggers*_ over.*un-manly giggles* Win go-goes to th- _*full belly, rib cracking guffaws*_ \- Team one!" The disembodied voice of Jason managed to wheeze out before he dissolved into a fit of laughter and the intercom cut out.

The Othånas were left standing stunned, cover head to toe in the colorful evidence of their defeat. The **entire** inner court of the Goblin Kingdom learned something very important that day.

Never. EVER. **_EVER._** Blindly trust Ms. Sarah Erica Williams.

Said villainess swaggered down from the tower she had been snipping from to a chorus of whooping and laughing from her conspirators. The college kids came stumbling out of their hiding spots, trying to catch their breath as they came off the adrenaline high of a well-executed prank.

Chassity, James, and Robert were dressed to the nines in their battle armor, wearing snowy camouflage with braces and leg guards and helmets clutch to their wheezing sides. Other students Jareth recognized but had no recollection of name appeared from behind obstacles on all sides high-fiving and cheering as they converged on their glorious leader.

Sarah came to the forefront, removing her helmet with all the flare of a movie star badass. She flicked her long braid over her shoulder as she sauntered up casually to the defeat painted King. "Glad to see you could make it!" she said in a cheerful voice that might have you believe she hadn't just ambushed and _annihilated_ some of the most powerful beings to ever come out of the Underground.

Her smile was sweet, but her eyes were viciously proud.

The Othånas just stared. Jareth didn't know how to feel.

He was pissed and impressed and quite possibly proud and maybe even a little turned on and _sore_ as all hell. He had had only an inkling of what to expect when he had been handed those flowers, but it sure as Hades wasn't this! There wasn't even a drop of paint of the little twit as she smirked defiantly up at him with those cold green eyes.

"...I am beginning to see," started Cultin quietly, "how she managed to beat the Labyrinth." The smile she shot him could only be described as cheeky.

"I don't believe we've met!" Sarah extended a hand in Cultin's direction "Hi, I'm Sarah! What's your name?"

Cultin looked at her hand as if he'd rather touch a cactus, but dutifully extended his own and gave a half-hearted shake.

Sarah noted that he _didn't_ lean to kiss it, as most Othånas males did when presented with a hand. That could mean this one had spent some time Above and knew of their customs.

"You invited me here, your _Ladyship_ , so you must have some inkling of who I am," Cultin stated blankly, clearly not in the mood for any games as he took his hand back as quick as respectfully possible.

"Nope. No clue. I just bribed the you-know-whos with butt-loads of candy to tell me the names of everyone closest to Jareth." Sarah replied cheerfully, though her smile took on a bit of an edge at the use of her title.

Jareth interpreted it to mean 'I will get you for calling me that in front of all these people'. He gave a low _chuckle_ that had his subjects glancing his way in wary concern before he broke in smoothly. "Then allow me to rectify the situation"

Upon reflection,was Jareth decided that he was _decidedly_ leaning more and more towards turn on. After taking an objective step back over his writhing pride, he could see the clever genius behind her plot. Even with his best generals and tacticians beside him, Sarah had used a couple of theater kids to completely outmaneuver him. Had this been a real attack, they might have been hard-pressed to escape with their lives.

Admiration, pride, and desire rushed through him in a tidal wave.

"This is Cultin, my…" Jareth paused, conscious of their audience, "personal physician. And this is Drathon and Corlael, my 'generals'," He gestured to the two, making air quotation to sound as if that was just their nickname instead of their actually occupation, "and lastly, Adimean, an academic. You've met everyone else I believe. We can save formal introductions for a more auspicious time."

Sarah smiled at each as they were named and shot a smirk at Raeth as they made eye contact. He was covered head to boot in green and purple paint and looked like he didn't know if he wanted to laugh or growl. Gaethin wasn't much better. Jareth sidled up to Sarah and leaned in with a quiet voice.

"Your invitation, _dearest_ , stated you wished to celebrate the defeat of our personal enemies, not start your own war. Ambushing us was hardly **_fair_** , Sarah."

"Fair, no. But it **_was_** a _piece of cake_." She shot back sweetly, giving him a smile that said she still clearly remembered his trespass in the tunnels, and karma had come to collect its due.

"Was it really?" He questioned sarcastically, eyes narrowing even as his smirk rose to the challenge.

Sarah's own eye flashed and she lean in with a hum. "It really was." In a low voice only he would her she continued "And maybe you should think before you randomly poof into a girl's bedroom."

Jareth's eyes flash and he opened his mouth to respond-

"Oh, just kiss already!" an amused and exasperated female voice rang out. Sarah's head jerked around to shoot Chassity a betrayed look. The short blonde was staunchly unrepentance. Raeth and Gaethin in that moment decided that they like the girl very, very much. Poor thing.

"Sorry, I don't kiss guys I'm **not** **dating**." She emphasised the last word, trying to **pin it** on her theater friend as she turned and walked toward the throng. Chassity rolled her eyes and waved it off.

Sarah looked to the greater portion of the college group. "Thanks for your help, guys, I know we're all so busy, so if you wanna take off now you can." Around half the group nodded and said their goodbyes, smiling and waving at the festively painted group they had helped to punk on their way out.

"Soooo." Sarah said facing her victims "Up for another round? Since it winter we've got the place pretty much to ourselves for the rest of the day… "

Jareth's smile looked down right scary, curling to relieve a bit of canine that was just a little too sharp to be human.

To her unending credit in the eyes of the othanas, Sarah didn't flinch when Jareth strolled up to her with all the smooth grace of a hunting wolf. He leaned forward, handed her a bright gold Tansy and in the darkest, most dangerously attractive voice she's ever heard in her short life, _purred_ : "Game on, **_Precious_**."

* * *

_Authors notes: SO! There you go! The first half of this scene. I just give you a few quick side notes before you click the next chapter bottom:_

_*Tansy means **"** **Resistance"** , " **I declare against you"**._

_*I gave Sarah a middle name, and I'm so freaking proud of it. Watch this!_

_Erica: From the German, "honorable ruler", From the Scandinavian, meaning "ever-powerful"._

_Erica is also the Latin word for white heather, which, drum roll, please..._

_White Heather: **"Protection"** , **"Wishes will Come True"**. _

_Now if that doesn't fit our little Sarah William nothing does!_

_(Also I'm aware that middle names in most Fae mythology are meant to be kept a secret from the Fae as a means of protection, buuuuut... Jareth wanted to adopt her when she was very little, so he has known her for a long time and I'm just gonna go with the assumption that in some time there he was able to discover what her full name was. Not that it's gonna be able to do him much good now...)_

 


	15. Chapter 14

 

**_NEWS UPDATE:_ **

**Hello, my beautiful reader.** **Thank you so much for taking the time to enjoy my imagination with me and an even bigger thanks to everyone who leave such encouraging comments for me. They have never failed to bring a smile to my face and motivate me to write more. Unfortunately, I come bearing bad news. My Grandmother just passed away yesterday morning at breakfast and frankly, I'm still trying to come to terms with it. She was a spirited woman and will be missed dearly. As of such I'm not really in the right mindset to do any sort of consistent writing, so I will be going on a temporary leave.**

**VERY IMPORTANT: I WILL NOT BE ABANDONING THIS STORY!**

**I love with work and the world I've created and there is NOTHING I hate more than abandoned works. I will in fact still be doing some writing during this time, editing what I have and trying to get back in the saddle if you will, but I don't want to keep all of you wonderful people wait for an update that might not come. Let shoot to start back up again no later than Halloween, k? Repeat, I _will_ still be writing new content in this time as I can, and will aim to come back much sooner than that, but unfortunately, this is the first major death I've ever had to deal with in my life and I'm still trying to figure out how to cope. If you're the sort, prayer would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all so much for your love and support and I hope to see you soon!**

 

 

_Authors notes: Two chapters in one day! Woohoooo! Who do you love? Lol, jk, cuz, ya know, I made you wait for how many months? Hopeful, the scene here will make it up to you guys. **HEADS UP FOR THE INNOCENT: There will be steamy fluff in this chapter!** If you don't like... Please go read another fiction, cuz it's not gonna get any better from here on out. I'm not one for writing straight up smut, buuuuuut I do like me some good steamy fluff. Mmmmhm yummy Goblin Kingy._

_Credit to who credit is due_

_I own nothing but your attention span for the duration of this chapter._

_-Wild-is-Good_

* * *

Chapter 14

By mid-afternoon, Sarah had gone on to lead her various teams to several more victories. In the process, she had managed to thoroughly impress the Generals, a victory in and of itself.

Drathon and Corael were known for being hard to rouse, but Sarah's repeated and ingenious use of situation after situation to her advantage demonstrated to them a mind that could tackle and solve adversity thrown her way.

In the heat of one intense four-team round, Corlael glanced back at the dark-skinned male crouched beside her and predicted:"The next war against the Courts may very well end up being our swiftest yet."

Drathon nodded and rumbled with a lethal smile "If our young Queen has anything to say about it," before both streaked back into the fray.

Sarah and her selected delegation of humanity proved that they were not above fighting dirty, opposing teams ganging up on a faction to wipe them out before turning on each other, using paint covered or laced snowballs as grenades and avalanches of white powder push from high towers to bury the unsuspecting below.

All in all, this was probably one of the most enjoyable pastimes they had participated in centries. It was just the right mix of hunting, warfare, chaos, mess and play that snared their full attention and made their blood roar.

Several found that keeping their human guise in place was difficult in the heat of the moment, a few near slips causing their human rivals and teammates such a shocking unease that the number of humans slowly dwindled as time wore on. Of the original 12 members of the crew and cast who stayed after the ambush, only 7 remained, including Sarah herself.

It was around 4 pm when a general consensus called for a food break.

They converged on the concession stand/picnic area of the property in a wave of adrenaline filled bodies that had yet to truly feel the sting of their injuries, jostling and jibing with each other as they sat. Sarah then brought forth the favored cuisine of college kids everywhere.

Pizza.

The humans among the group lined up and ate with a gusto, while the Goblins followed suit with a bit more wariness. Sarah found herself sitting with Jareth, Raeth, Gaethin, Chastity, and Adimean, and the human girls were trying to persuade their tablemates to try it.

"How can you never have had pizza before!?" Chassity exclaimed in mock horror toward Adimean. "You have not _**lived**_ till you've had pizza! Adi. Girl, here, EAT!" she charged as she pushed the goblin's plate closer to her. Sarah laughed and nodded while she surreptitiously slipped a slice of pepperoni to Pethl under the table.

Jareth laughed and chimed "Yes, _Adi_ , please, eat," He grinned under the heat of the female's glare.

"After you, your Highness." She countered.

"Lady's first, my dear." He waved her toward her food.

"Like she said" Sarah chimed in, bringing the cheesy goodness to her lips "after **you**."

Silence owned the table the table for a breath. Then that breath was exhaled and Raeth and Gaethin flew into storms of laughter, beating their fists on the table as Sarah smugly took another bite out of her pizza. Echoing snorts and chokes of laughter could be heard from the other tables as the Othånas tried to hold their tounges, and the üghalnas tried to remain unnoticed.

Chassity stared open-mouthed at her normal benign and good-natured castmate before giving a shocked laugh of her own and casting a glance at the besmirched king. "I don't know about you, but unless your claiming those pants are stuffed I'm pretty sure this one's a boy."

Sarah choked on her food and the duo of laughing males _wheezed_. Adimean lost it at this point giving into small tinkling laughter behind a politely raised hand and both Krath and Tharok had to put their heads down with shaking shoulders.

The humans close enough to the table to hear the conversation doubled over and James, who had been walking back with seconds, got asphalt in his pizza as he folded in half.

Corlael shot an appraising and mildly approving look at Chassity, Drathon shot a smirk at Jareth. The only one how didn't seem amused was poor Cultin. The normally good nature healer merely went about moodily consuming his food. He wasn't having the best time, seeing as how inflicting injuries was the opposite of what he did.

Sarah and Robert stared a Chassity as if they didn't recognize her. Finlay James managed through his heaving laughter "Who are you and what have you done with our sweet innocent Cassy?!"

Chassity shrugged and took a bit out of her own pizza. Gaethin calmed his laughter enough to look over at his king to see how he would deal with the 'boy' comment. Jareth didn't disappoint.

Leaning his elbows on the table he fixed the girls across from him with a 'friendly' smile.

"Yes, come now Chassity, let us be reasonable. I'm sure you'll agree that the term 'boy'," at this he slide his gaze wholly on Sarah and his grin became a lot less 'friendly', "is a woefully inadequate description."

Sarah fought valiantly not to turn beet red as she kept eye contact with the king. In the back of her mind, however, her hormones were singing ' _Sha-la-la'_ as they melted into a bubbling pile of goo her higher functions had no idea how to deal with.

Chassity had no such qualms however and fanned herself a dramatic sigh. "Dang Sarah, that look wasn't even directed at me and I'm feelin' light-headed, how are you not even blushing?!"

Sarah chose that as the ideal moment to break the staring contest with Jareth, rolling her eyes at the girl beside her. "Don't encourage him!"

"Come on girl, I mean, I'm straight as hell and have a girlfriend, but I'd still do that in a heartbeat!" Robert chimed in, give Sarah an evil smile.

"Same," James called out from the pizza station.

Sarah groaned softly before turning back to her food. "With friends like these…" she muttered into her plate.

Adimaen snorted. "Yes, you do seem to have a knack for making the most _interesting_ friends."

The Othånas at the table laughed at that, but Sarah shot them a sour glare.

Making fun of the Gang in front of her? Not. Ok.

Chassity was almost surprised at the look, not understanding where such a frankly scary expression was coming from. She shifted slightly, unconsciously leaning away from Sarah's wrath.

Jareth understood the look, and no matter how her choice of confidants might vex him, he silenced the others with a glance. If Sarah wanted to keep company with the rabble, then that was her decision and she had earned the right to it.

The conversation when on smoothly after that, the Othånas got over their aversion to the human food and most decided, while it was no means to the standards they ascribed to, it was passibly enjoyable and they could understand while these children might enjoy it.

After the meal was over, a few more humans decided that, yep, they were feeling those bruises now and with the cold picking up it was probably best they quit while they were ahead. They were teasingly booed out and the group found themselves down to 13 players in all.

After a few more rounds James and Chassity to bowed out, claiming that for having to do a show in a week they had enough bruises

"Michaels' going to kill us as it is." James grimaced playfully, probably thinking of all the 'shirtless' scenes he was supposed to do.

"The makeup team's not going to be our biggest fans either," Chassity added helpfully.

"Awe, come on guys, I've got just as many shirtless scenes as J, and Sarah's wearing that mini skirt for most of it, but we're sticking it out!" Robert retorted.

Sarah withheld a wince, hoping against reason that Jareth had missed the "mini-skirt" bit, but not brave enough to turn and see for herself.

The duo left anyways, and Robert, who found without other humans there to balance things out that his sense of danger was screaming, was almost relieved when he got a demanding "pay attention to me" text from Mallie. Cultin excused himself as well, feeling he'd stayed plenty long enough to honor The Champion's invitation and appease Jareth and wanted to get back to his medical books.

So, Sarah Williams found herself playing paintball with 8 of the most powerful and feared beings in the Underground.

She was honestly having a great time of it too. With the other humans gone and Jason properly 'distracted', the lesser goblins started to emerge and run amuck among the obstacles, throwing painted snowballs at anyone or anything and generally chasing chaos. The greater goblins allowed their glamors to slide off, with Jareth casting a quick spell on the cameras to shield them.

Sarah and Jareth had silently decided to partner up for a couple rounds and were wiping out the competition. The others had joined forces against them and had pushed them further into the maze of obstacles before resuming their competition induced feud.

Sarah was panting hard, leaning wearily against the inner wall of an inflatable arch while Jareth stood guard as she recovered. Now that the Othånas weren't holding back Sarah was starting to run out of breath trying to keep up. Good paintballer she may be, but these immortals were intense!

"Yah… never woulda guessed… that this was all your... first time playing!" The poor girl gasped out.

Jareth glanced around the corner again, listening to the sounds of his advisers warring before turning back to his love and removing his helmet. With a simple run through of his fingers, he restored it to its wild, gravity-defying glory.

"If you would like we can take a break for a bit and sit out the rest of this round," he offered with surprising kindness.

Sarah smiled a little before she shook her head and waved him off. She sunk to the snowy ground as she panted lightly "Nahh… don't want you to have to sit out because of me. You can go ahead... I'll just... chill here for a bit." She finished by taking her helmet off, leaning her head back and closing her eyes.

Jareth felt his heart lurch as he sunk down beside her, rocking on his heels ready for action.

She looked so vulnerable like that, one would almost find it hard to believe that she had been ruthlessly stealing victory after victory for her teams. The column of her throat was bare and her defiant eyes were hidden behind her dark lashes. Her braid was slowly coming undone, fly-aways and wisps of her ebony hair falling free, with one long strand falling in the front that almost matched his own. For some odd reason pleased him.

Jareth took just a second to muse, enjoying the quiet moment. Being in love really was an interesting experience, he could see why others choose to do it so often. However, to be honest, he really couldn't imagine feeling this way about anyone other than her.

He smiled crookedly at the mortal before him and tucked the strand of hair behind her ear. When she opened her eyes to peek at him, he raised an eyebrow.

"And leave my champion vulnerable?" He scoffed quietly as if the very notion was preposterous. "That hardly seems like what a friend would do, now does it precious?"

"So we're still friends even after I ambushed you?" Sarah attempted to tease to mask the way her heart was fluttering. His mismatched eyes, now free from any guise of humanity, glowed in the shadow of the arch with the power she knew could flatten her entire town if it struck his fancy. They were the eyes of a millennia-old _**nightmare**_. The thought should have sent shivers down her spine, yet the faint wisps of colored light coming off his irises intrigued more than scared her.

"Well, fair is fair, and I'm sure I've paid you back in full."

She scowled playfully, heart no longer fluttering as she remembered all the rounds _he_ won. Those were definitely going to leave some bruises.

"Hmm, you have the most delightful pout." He hummed as he leaned a little further into her space.

"It's not a pout, its a scowl. Get it right!" She informed him with mock indignance, refusing to budge under his teasing. Unfortunately, he seemed perfectly content with that.

"Mmhhmm, if you say so, Precious." He hummed again, though this time it came out sounding vaguely like a _purr._ An honest to goodness one, too.

Sarah felt her spine tingle this time, but for a very different reason.

"...Jareth?"

"Yes?" his voice was hushed, and in that rich, chocolatey tone that did bad things to her hormone-infested insides.

"Stop staring at my lips." The girl deadpanned.

The King's smile turned wicked, showing off the terribly sharp looking fangs he housed behind those lips.

"What's the magic word?" His crooned, gaze flicking up to flash challengingly before returning to his chosen viewing point. She imaged what they must look like in the dark. The image of two cruel orbs leaking magic laced light in a void with only the gleam of a deadly white smile underneath them greeted her mind's eye.

She snorted and rolled her eyes."...Please?"

"No." he returned without pause, smirking as he went right on staring at her mouth.

"Jareth!"

The goblin kneeling before her laughed. "Can I try them?" he asked with humor in his voice, leaning in as if to get a better look at the objects of his fascination.

"No! Gosh, you make it sound like you want to eat them." Sarah exclaimed, finally caving and leaning further away from his encroaching face.

"And if I did?" His low voice had turned to silk as he posed the outrageous question and his eyes sparkled at her with mischief and a look she generally reserved for her first cup of coffee in the morning. The combined effect made the hair on her neck stand up quite pleasantly and gave her legs gooseflesh.

"Jareth!" She scolded again because really, she was having a hard time catching her breath before, this was _completely_ uncalled for.

This time he really did purr, she was sure of it. "Hmmmm, say it again." His eyes had become lidded as they poured over hers. His voice was chocolate again, the dark, almost black kind that was the perfect mix of heaven and _sin_.

Sarah found that she was actually feeling a little light-headed. "What?"

"My name, _Precious_. I find I rather like the way it sounds coming from your tempting lips." There was actual, legitimate purr to his voice, and it should **not** turn her on as much as it did.

" _ **Really**_?" she said exasperatedly.

"Wrong." he chimed, leaning his forehead inches from hers. His twin locks of long star light blonde brushed her shoulder with feather light kisses that made more goosebumps appear. His eyes were equal parts playful and sinful, and her poor hormones were having seizures. She realized then just how close they had gotten. How did this make her feel equal parts safe and petrified?

Damn him, he wasn't even human, what right did he have to be this attractive?

"Really, ' _Jareth'_?" she retorted sarcastically, falling on her last line of defense against… whatever it was he and her hormones were doing.

"Hmm, that's it" he hummed again, his dark voice sounding pleasantly unperturbed at her tone as his lids sank hypnotically lower.

He leaned in just a little bit further. Her hand came up instinctually to keep him at bay, but she might as well have pushed on a leather encrusted statue for all the good it did. One of his arms had found its way above her head and the other gently removed her hand from his chest. Sarah realized that his hand was bare.

With twinkling half-lidded eyes, he brought her wrist between them and gently, oh so gently, placed a kiss just under her palm. His lips were cool but not cold, smooth and firm. His hand felt hot in stark contrast. His eyes never left hers as he did so. Tingles burned their way up her arm from where his skin touched hers, tightening her chest and settling in her stomach.

Sarah felt the flush finally overtake her cheeks as she vaguely wondered how he could do something like that with a straight face.

Jareth kept his smirk to himself as he lowered her wrist from his lips, keeping hold of it so he could enjoy the fluttering sensation of her pulse. He stroked the palm of her hand with his thumb and watched her struggle not to shiver. Unspeaking, he leaned down so that their noses were brushing, and found it endlessly endearing that hers was cold.

He opened his mouth to… do something. Maybe speak, or kiss her. Whatever it was, Sarah'd never know, because it was at that exact second that a single ughlanas popped into existence beside them and started dancing up and down, causing its monstrous ears to flop like dumbo as it shrieked in a high voice:

"Kingy, Kingy! Gots notes from fairy-frackers, big notes, important notes, says to gives to yous righta-"

If looks could kill, Sarah was positive this little goblin would have shriveled up in the most excruciatingly painful way possible as its insides boiled up and turned into hot air. 

On second thought, one glance at Jareth's face, and that still might be the poor guy's fate.

" _ **Bog**_." The word came out of his mouth with so much dark menace it almost seemed as if it were a black curse. The little fella with the poor timing only had time enough to wrap his big floppy ears around his terrified self before he disappeared to a place that still haunted Sarah's nightmares.

However, this little interruption did have the benefit of jarring Sarah back into reality. She was near pinned under an immortal eldritch king who, despite being a good friend of hers, was freaking terrifying, and was very much playing with her.

She wanted to get irritated and throw a fit, but she knew in hindsight that she had it coming. He was known as the **Master of Games** for crying out loud, and earlier she had practically issued the challenge of "I don't kiss guys I'm not dating" and calling his masculinity into question. This was Jareth she was talking about. The male went out of his way to be _**sex personified**_ most of the time. No wonder he was good at … at well _this._

Sarah heard him grumble, though in all honesty it sounded more like a feral growl, and carefully slid out from under him. His gaze snapped back to her, his grip on her hand tightening. She fought the urge to swallow, though unsure if it was for fear or… the other thing. Instead, she finished standing, just as the buzzer blessedly went off again.

"Rounds over, we should head back now." She spoke blithely as if the last ten minutes hadn't happened and tried to tug her hand away.

"Should we?" he batted back smoothly as he rose with the grace and power she was left with nooooo doubts that he possessed. He tugged back on her hand gently, pulling her toward him. At this point, Sarah did get irritated. Fine. He still wanted to play this game? Then she would just give the damn fairy a taste of his own medicine.

She let him tug her close, carefully and artfully falling into his chest. The look of pleasure in his eyes told her he bought it as his free arm snaked around her waist as if to support her and bring her closer.

She let herself get 'caught up' in the look in his eyes, 'unconsciously' leaning in and slowly reaching the hand he still had possession of up to touch his collar. He placed it flat against his chest, holding it there and stroking it with his thumb as his gaze bore down on her.

He really was stupidly taller than her, she only just came past his shoulder by an inch, which come to think of it gave her a great idea for how to win this little game…

Her free hand snaked up his chest to rest behind his neck as she let a little smile form on her lips. She watched his gaze dart down to them. She slipped her hand out from underneath his and slide it up to join the other on his neck. He used the now free had to gently stroke her face with his knuckles. She leaned into his touch and closed her eyes before reopening them and gazing up at him, a small smile curling her sweet face. He dropped his hand to her hip, gently squeezing it.

She would have to give him that, he was a master of what he was doing. She didn't really think soft and sweet was his style, but he knew that what would work on her without making her bolt. He was good, but once again he was underestimating her. His mistake.

Sarah smiled a little crooked again, and shyly lifted one of her hands to his hair. She began to play with it, letting a look of fascination wash its way over her face as she finally sated her curiosity. Yes, his hair really was as soft as it looked, and no, there wasn't anything more than magic keeping it up the way it was.

Jareth began to purr softly, tucking her body in close to his. Finally, she brought her wandering hand to his cheek. She gazing up at his lips meaningfully and used both hands to slowly bring his face down. He complied willingly, the look on his smug face nothing short of triumphant.

Just as their lips were only a breath apart Sarah jerked his head down the last bit and pecked him on the forehead. With a small pop, she disappeared and reappeared 6 feet away from him with her helmet on and paint gun in hand, leaving him with nothing but a posse of yellow Birdsfoot Trefoil in her place.

Sarah swung her gun onto her shoulder as she swaggered back toward the rest of the group.

"We really _**should**_ head back, your _Highness_."

Jareth watched her go in a state as close to shock as he got. He brought his hand to his forehead, dropping his gaze to the flowers.

" _ **Revenge"**_

He gazed back up after his Champion and gave a little self-deprecating smirk.

Never. Ever. Underestimate Sarah Erica Williams. 

* * *

_Authors note: Again forgive me, for I know it has been a stupidly long time since I updated. In reward for sticking it out with me, I present to you:_

_**~Bonus content!!!~** _

Hoggle was dying of laughter. He had grumpily watch Jareth's seduction of his best friend and had been relieved for the interruption, if not a little sorry for the poor guy. He had seen the look in Sarah's eyes as Jareth tried to tug her to himself again and had known exactly what it meant. The poor dwarf couldn't breathe as he rolled out of his comfy chair and spilled his remaining exploding corn everywhere. Sarah got him good!

_*giggles with Hoggle* I hope you all enjoyed! Please though, tell me your thoughts, especially on the Jareth/Sarah scene! I've NEVER written anything of that caliber before, and I'd love to know how I did, if you don't mind. Hope to see you all again soon! (Sooner then, what, 3 months?! I don't even remember the last time I updated. Bad Wild-is-Good!)_


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